
Oass_ J3Ji4&_ 
Book J: 



LECTURES 



TO 



YOUNG PEOPLE: 



4/ 

BY WILLIAM B/ SPRAGUE, D. D. 

PASTOR OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ALBANY. 



WITH AN 

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS, 

BY SAMUEL MILLER, D. D. 

PKOFE5SOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PBINCETON. 




Hefo=¥otft: 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. HAVEN. 
Packard and Van Benthuysen, Printers, Albany. 

1830. 






v\ 



Southern District of New- York, ss. 

^XXX^- -Be it remembered, That on the fourteenth day of July, A. J). 

V V 1830, in the fifty-fifth year of the independence of the United States 

V j Jt <§ # Y of America, John P. Haven, of the said district, hath deposited in 
i) * this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as pro- 
$........ & prietor, in the words following, to wit: 

^••^'■■'-'•"■■•^"■-'V "Lectures to Young People: By William B. Sprague, D. D. 
Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Albany. With an Introductory 
Address, by Samuel Miller, D. D. Professor in the Theological Seminary at 
Princeton." 

In conformity to the act of congress of the United States, entitled " An act lor 
the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, 
to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned: 
And also to an act entitled "An act supplementary to an act entitled 'An act for 
the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, 
to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the tunes therein mentioned.' 
and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching 
historical and other prints." 

FREDERICK J. BETTS, 
Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. 



PREFACE. 

The plan of the following course of Lectures was 
suggested to the author, by his having often felt the need 
of a book to put into the hands of the young, which would 
yield them counsel and instruction adapted to every va- 
riety of circumstances. Such a book he has here at- 
tempted to supply ; — a book designed to guard the moral 
principles and habits of youth, amidst the temptations of 
the world ; to impress them with the infinite obligations 
and advantages of religion ; to conduct them through that 
most interesting period of anxious inquiry concerning their 
salvation ; to bring them to a cordial acceptance of the 
gospel offer ; to assist them in ascertaining their claims to 
the christian character ; and to enable them to prosecute 
the various duties and conflicts of the christian life, in 
such a manner that they may finish their course with joy. 
Several of these lectures were written during the au- 
thor's connexion with his late charge at West-Springfield, 
and the whole course was originally intended especially 
for the benefit of the youth of that congregation. Since 
his connexion with his present charge, he has completed 
the course ; and the several lectures embraced in it have 
been delivered in the hearing of the youth to whom he 

now ministers : and it is in compliance with a respectful 
1 



IV 

and affectionate request from them, as well as in accord- 
ance with his original design, that the series is now given 
to the public. 

To the youth of his former charge, whose friendly at- 
tentions he gratefully remembers, and in whose happiness 
he will ever cherish a lively interest, as well as to the 
youth of his present charge, whose many expressions of 
kindness he would gladly meet by his best efforts to do 
them good, these lectures are now 

, Affectionately inscribed, 

With every sentiment of regard, 

And with fervent prayers for their present and 
eternal well-being, 

By their obliged friend, 

W, B, SPRAGUE- 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introductory Address, by the Rev. Dr. Miller, vii 
LECTURE I. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 

PROVERBS IV 10. 

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings 1 

LECTURE II. 

DANGER OF EVIL COMPANY. 

I. CORINTHIANS XV. 33. 

Evil communications corrupt good manners 13 

LECTURE III. 

DANGER OF EVIL INSTRUCTION. 
PROVERBS XIX. 27. 
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the 
words of knowledge. 31 

LECTURE IV. 

DANGER OF A LIFE OF PLEASURE- 

ECCLESIASTES XI. 9. 

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee 

in the days of thy youth ; and walk in the ways of thine heart, 

and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou, that for all these 

things, God will bring thee into judgment 5? 

LECTURE V. 

REGARD TO THE FAVOR OF THE WORLD CONTRASTED 
WITH A REGARD TO THE FAVOR OF GOD. 
I. THESSALONIANS II. 4. 
Not as pleasing men, but God *71 



VI 

LECTURE VI. 

RELIGION AN ALL PERVADING PRINCIPLE. 

MATTHEW Xni. 8. 

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit 89 

LECTURE VII. 

PERSUASIVE TO RELIGION. 

LUKE XIV. 17. 

Come, for all things are now ready 103 

LECTURE VIII. 

EXCUSES FOR THE NEGLECT OF RELIGION. 
LUKE XIV. 18. 
I pray thee, have me excused 119 

LECTURE IX. 

AWAKING TO RELIGION. 

ACTS XVI. 30. 

What must I do to be saved ? 137 

LECTURE X. 

EMBRACING RELIGION. 

ACTS XVI. 31. 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 153 

LECTURE XI. 

EVIDENCE OF RELIGION. 
MATTHEW VII. 21. 
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 
the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my 
Father which is in heaven 166 

LECTURE XII. 

PROFESSION OF RELIGION. 

ISAIAH XLIV. 5. 

One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and another shall call himself 

by the name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his 

hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of 

Israel 181 



Vll 

LECTURE XIII. 

DEFENCE AGAINST TEMPTATION. 

MATTHEW XXYI. 41. 

Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation * . 197 

LECTURE XIV. 

CHRISTIAN DECISION. 
DANIEL HI. 18. 
Be it known unto thee, O king, that we wiil not serve thy gods, 

nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up 215 

LECTURE XV. 

GROWTH IN GRACE. 

H. PETER m. 18. 

Grow in grace 227 

LECTURE XVI. 

DOING GOOD. 

GALATIANS VI. 10, 

Let us do good unto all men 251 

LECTURE XVII. 

THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN^ COURSE. 

n. TIMOTHY IV. 7 

I have finished my course 275 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS, 



The man who becomes, by any means, instrumental 
in guiding a single youth to knowledge, virtue, piety, 
and true happiness, is a rich public benefactor : for the 
training of every such youth is a precious blessing con- 
ferred on his generation. But he who by sending forth 
a good Book ; a book well adapted to serve as a guide 
to thousands beyond the reach of his personal address ; 
and even to exert a benign influence on the temporal and 
eternal welfare of multitudes, in succession, long after he 
shall have ceased from his labors ; is a benefactor to man- 
kind to an extent which no human arithmetic can calcu- 
late. Not only are his contemporaries rendered much 
his debtors ; but future generations also will have reason 
to rise up and call him blessed. 

It gave me, therefore, unfeigned pleasure to learn that 
the Reverend Author of the ensuing Volume had been 
warmly solicited by a number of his friends, and had 
finally consented, to publish from the press a series of 
Lectures which had been, with much acceptance, ad- 
dressed by him from the pulpit to the Youth of his pas- 
toral charge. My long and intimate acquaintance with 
him, first as a beloved Pupil, and secondly as a highly 
esteemed Friend and Brother in the Gospel Ministry, con- 



vinced me that he was well qualified to execute the task 
which he was prevailed upon to undertake, with honor 
to himself, and with benefit to his readers. Of course, 
when requested to introduce the work to the public, by 
a preliminary address, I could have no other objection 
than that which arose from a persuasion that such an in« 
troduction was altogether unnecessary. It struck me, 
too, that when a third person, at any time, interposes be- 
tween an Author and his reader, and claims an audience 
first, he ought to have something weighty to offer ; more 
weighty than I can hope to present in the pages assigned 
to this testimonial of respect and friendship. But what- 
ever of reluctance may have arisen from these considera- 
tions, has been made to yield to the suggestion, that if 
the humblest individual should happen to be induced by 
this testimonial to procure and peruse the following lec- 
tures, I shall be richly rewarded for the offering. He 
who feels admonished by advancing age, that his period 
of active labor cannot be continued much longer, ought 
to be " ready to every good work ;" and to be cautious 
of permitting false delicacy to deter him from the small- 
est effort to be useful. 

Since the delivery of these Lectures, I have enjoyed 
the privilege of perusing a considerable portion of them 
in manuscript : and although it has not been in my power 
to extend this perusal to the whole work, yet I have ex- 
amined so much of it as fully to confirm, and even to in- 
crease, all my previous expectations in its favor. So far 
as my opportunity of examination has extended, it is rich 
and judicious in matter ; neat, perspicuous, and attractive 
in style ; and peculiarly adapted to engage and reward 
the attention of enlightened, reflecting, and literary youth. 



Indeed, if I were asked to point out a manual, better 
suited than any other within my knowledge, to be put 
into the hands of students in the higher literary institu- 
tions, I know not that it would be in my power to name 
one more likely to answer the purpose than this volume. 

It is no objection to such a publication as the present, 
that a number of excellent works on the same general 
subject, are already in possession of the religious public ; 
and that several of recent appearance, and much value 
are in very extensive and useful circulation. The truth 
is, works on practical religion, like works of devotion, 
provided they be well executed, can scarcely be too 
much multiplied. With respect to articles of secular 
trade, we know that an increase of demand must gene- 
rally precede an increased supply. But this principle by 
no means applies to moral and spiritual provision. Here, 
indeed, the practical rule is rather the reverse. There 
is no natural demand in the human mind for religious 
instruction. The supply must precede and create the 
demand. We must abundantly replenish the market, 
nay, we must run the risk, as has been remarked, of 
" overstocking" it, if we would extend the taste for spi- 
ritual food. Besides, we know that personal and local 
considerations lead thousands, in every age, to patronize 
and read that which their own pastors or neighbors have 
published, when, perhaps, scarcely any thing else would 
bring them in contact with moral and religious works of 
the highest intrinsic excellence. Surely, in these cir- 
cumstances, he who adds a new and excellent manual to 
those already in circulation, however numerous its prede- 
cessors, confers on the public a rich benefit. 



Xll 



The formation of the youthful mind to knowledge, 
virtue, and religion, is, in all countries, of incalculable 
moment. But in this favored country, it is mani- 
festly a matter of most peculiar interest. In many other 
communities, the form of the government furnishes a 
substitute for popular purity. The strong and the prompt 
arm of power may be brought to bear continually, and 
may be applied with success to curb the excesses of un- 
lawful indulgence, and to arrest the violence and the pro* 
gress of crime. But the vital principle of our govern- 
ment is the intelligence and virtue of the people. Here 
public sentiment is every thing ; and those whose cha- 
racter is now forming, are soon to govern that sentiment, 
and to hold in their hands the peace, the order, and the 
happiness, of the community. Now the hope of main- 
taining order and happiness in any social body without 
Religion, is a chimera. It never was, and never can be 
realized. It follows, of course, then, that the religious 
education of our Youth is, under God, our only hope. It 
ought to be the prime object of every lover of his coun- 
try's welfare. The Patriot as well as the Christian 
ought to desire it, and pray for it without ceasing. With- 
out it, the elective franchise, highly as we prize the pri- 
vilege, will be a curse instead of a blessing. Without 
it, the liberty with which the great Governor of nations 
has been pleased to make us free, will only serve, in the 
end, to rivet upon us more ignoble and more wretched 
chains than any human despot ever forged. If I should 
see the formation of youthful character upon the prin- 
ciples of the gospel, becoming an object of earnest and 
general attention, I should consider it as an infinitely 
surer pledge of the stability of our national privileges, 
and the continued progress of our national greatness, 



Xlll 



than all the human devices in the world could furnish ; 
than all the secular improvements, which seem to be the 
idol of so many millions of our population. Thinking 
men ought to know, that these mere secular improve- 
ments, though multiplied and extended to any imaginable 
degree, can never make a people happy : — nay, that 
their extension without a corresponding moral and reli- 
gious improvement, will infallibly serve to render any 
population more active in corruption, more fruitful in 
crime, and more opulently and splendidly miserable. 

There is, perhaps, no class of the community more 
negligent of the department of Religion, in conducting the 
education of their youth, than the wealthy and the ho- 
norable. And to this fact, we are perhaps, to ascribe 
another, as melancholy as it is notorious ; namely, that 
the children of what are commonly called the higher 
classes so frequently fall victims to dissipation and vice. 
The truth is, there is no portion of our youth who so 
imperiously need the restraining and purifying influence 
of Religion, in forming their character and habits as the 
children of opulent and distinguished families. Why is 
it that they are so frequently profligate ; and so seldom 
either retain the wealth which has been bequeathed to 
them, or keep up the honors which their fathers acquired 
by knowledge, virtue, or public services ? Obviously 
because they are commonly furnished with so many 
means of sensual gratification ; — are placed in circum- 
stances adapted so strongly to flatter and inflate ; — and 
are surrounded with a thousand temptations, which are 
all so many bars to sobriety of mind. In short, feeling, 
at every step, as if they had something to sustain them 
besides their own exertions, and as if the advantages of 



XIV 

birth and fortune would more than supply the place of 
personal accomplishments, they too often fall into habits 
of gross self-indulgence, and soon forfeit all the advan- 
tages which they fondly imagined could never be lost. 
Forfeit them, did I say? — far worse than this; — they 
convert them into means of the most humiliating corrup- 
tion and degradation ; and thus often fall far lower than 
some of the most indigent and uneducated of their con- 
temporaries. That this is the natural influence of wealth 
and station on the children of those who enjoy them, has 
been matter of universal experience : so that the in- 
stances of those who escape the baleful power of these 
circumstances, and in the midst of them, attain a charac- 
ter elevated, dignified, and pure, are proverbially rare. 
Now, can any thing more conclusively prove, that the 
children of the wealthy and the honorable, stand in more 
urgent need of the influence of Religion than any other 
class of the young ; that there is the utmost danger of 
their being lost without it ; and that nothing can more 
powerfully tend to guard them against their peculiar 
temptations, to inspire them with true elevation of sen- 
timent and affection, and to render every temporal ad- 
vantage at once an ornament and a blessing ? We often 
tell the poor, that vital religion (the only kind of re- 
ligion that deserves the name) is the richest treasure 
which they can seek for themselves and their children ; 
that it is adapted to alleviate their sorrows, to sustain 
them under the heaviest trials of life, to lift them at once 
to usefulness and enjoyment, and to lead their offspring 
to the truest and best elevation. But quite as strongly, 
nay, by arguments of peculiar urgency, may we recom- 
mend this Treasure to the rich, not only as the best hope 
of their own souls, but also as the only adequate hope of 



XV 

their children ; as the best of all security that those 
whom they love as themselves shall not prove fugitives 
and vagabonds on the earth ; and convert all the advan- 
tages which they, with so much toil, have bequeathed to 
them, into mere incentives to crime and infamy. 

With peculiar earnestness would I apply this train of 
remark to such youth as are enjoying the advantages of 
a refined literary education ; and particularly to those 
young men who are ambitious of distinguishing them- 
selves in the higher walks of literature and science. To 
such I would say — The object which you seek, is noble, 
is worthy of your pursuit. But, like every thing else, if 
it be not sanctified, you will have no ultimate reason to 
rejoice in it, even if attained. The Religion of Jesus 
Christ properly understood, and cordially embraced, gives 
to learning its highest finish ; to genius its most exquisite 
power ; to poetry its deepest feeling and tenderness ; to 
eloquence its most resistless energy ; to professional skill 
its most invaluable aids ; and to political wisdom its hap- 
piest insight, and preparation for blessing mankind. The 
groves of Academus will assuredly prove more verdant, 
more fragrant and more fruitful, by having the " Tree of 
Life" planted and thriving in the midst of them. Nay, 
without the presence and power of the u Plant of Re- 
nown," their most luxuriant growth will be likely to be 
followed by morbid secretions, and pestilential influences, 
fitted to countervail, and more than countervail all their 
richest benefits. The beauties of Homer and Virgil, of 
Horace, Demosthenes and Cicero^ will be more exqui- 
sitely relished, as well as more profitably improved, by 
those who have previously imbibed the true spirit of the 
Bible, than by any others. We may even go further, 
2 



XVI 



and ask, — Can the refinements of classic literature, the in- 
genious dreams of Pagan mythology, and the recondite 
lore of mathematical and metaphysical science, fail of 
doing harm, if not consecrated by the faith and practice 
of true religion ? Do not both scripture and experience 
inform us that they are adapted to puff up, and to cor- 
rupt, if not sanctified by an evangelical taste ? In a 
word, we may say of every part of education, — If it 
have not a decisively christian character conferred 
upon it, — it may boast and illude, it may dazzle and in- 
flate ; but can never be expected to promote the real 
purity or happiness of its most diligent votaries. To 
every aspirant after literary wealth and fame, then, the 
caution of the inspired Apostle is most appropriate and 
important — u Beware lest any man spoil you through 
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, 
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." 

There is another thought of deep interest which 
occurs in this connexion. The highly favored, but most 
responsible population of this land, is now conducting an 
experiment of incalculable importance to ourselves and 
to mankind : — the experiment whether men are capable 
of self-government ? In other words, whether they cap 
live permanently and in peace under rulers of their own 
choice, and laws of their own formation ; or whether 
they are destined, until the Millenium shall open on our 
world, continually to vibrate between anarchy and des- 
potism ; — between the manacles of privileged orders, and 
the exactions of an established Church — and the infuriated 
licentiousness of popular profligacy, which refuses to 
obey any law, either of God or man ? This experiment, 
(is I said, is now going on ; and it will probably be de- 



XV11 



cided by the men of the next generation ; by those 
whose principles and characters are now forming. Of 
course, every youth who is decisively won to the side of 
christian knowledge and practice, is so much gained to 
the cause of our national hopes. If, then, we wish to 
transmit all our privileges, civil and religious, unimpaired, 
to the latest posterity, let our young men be deeply im- 
bued with the spirit of the Bible. — If we wish to avert 
from our country the curse of an ecclesiastical establish- 
ment, that bane of both church and state, let the Bible, 
and nothing but the Bible, be impressed upon the 
minds of our youth, as the only infallible rule of 
faith and practice. Here, 'and here only, do we find 
those principles which are equally opposed to slavery 
and licentiousness. Every young man who has been 
trained in the spirit of the Bible, will be, as far as his 
influence goes, an impregnable barrier against every spe- 
cies of oppression, civil or religious ; and equally against 
every species of disorder. Only let the great mass of 
our population for the next forty years, drink deep into 
the spirit of the Bible, and we may probably consider 
our stability and happiness as a nation finally secured. 

The peculiar character of the day in which we live 
presents a further incentive to the Young to seek after 
the best of all qualifications for being extensively useful. 
The lot of the present generation is cast in a period more 
strongly marked than any that ever preceded it, by a 
spirit of christian benevolence and enterprise. The 
friends of God and man are engaged more generally and 
zealously than ever before, in endeavoring to meliorate 
the intellectual and moral condition of mankind. That 
youth, then, who is not intelligently and decisively on 



XVlli 



the side of Christ, is not fit to take his part in the great 
movements which now distinguish, and in some measure 
pervade the civilized world. He will either be a drone 
or a cypher in his day ; or unite himself with that large 
mass who are the foes of all good, and who live for the 
miserable purpose of persuading men that their true glory 
will be promoted by trampling upon every divine insti- 
tution, and dissolving every moral tie, however sacred. 
Can any youth of elevated sentiments be at a loss to 
decide which of these ranks he ought to join, and to the 
aid of which he ought to consecrate all the powers which 
God has given him ? 

I need not add, that genuine piety is the best pledge 
of personal and professional success in life. The youth 
who consents to embark on the ocean of life, in any 
profession, without unfeigned piety, is infatuated. He 
proceeds without compass or chart. He is without any 
sure "anchor of the soul." He is absolutely desti- 
tute of any thing suited either to hold, or to direct him 
securely on the troubled waters. On the other hand, all 
experience proves, that he who, in entering on his ca- 
reer, takes the Gospel of Christ as his guide in every pur- 
suit — derives from it his standard of morals — appeals to 
it to learn his duty — to solve his doubts — to animate his 
hopes — and to form all his principles of action, — is in the 
fairest way to be happy in himself, beloved of all around 
him, prosperous in his affairs, and favored, in a word, 
with the best kind of success that true wisdom can de- 
sire or pray for here below. If man is to be prepared 
by education for the duties as well as the business of life, 
then surely that education which alone is likely to purify 
and quicken the conscience, to elevate the affections, to 



XIX 

soften the heart, to inspire with practical wisdom, and to 
bind the individual by the ties of supreme love to God, 
and by those of enlightened and impartial benevolence to 
men, is adapted to promote in the highest degree, per- 
sonal and social happiness, in this life, as well as in that 
which is to come. 

In forming the religious character here recommended, 
it is of the utmost importance that the foundation be laid 
in clear views of divine truth. Doctrinal knowledge is apt 
to be undervalued by private Christians, and especially 
by the young. They imagine, according to the popular 
prejudice, that if the heart be right, and the conduct cor- 
rect, the doctrines embraced are of small moment. This 
supposes that the heart of any one may be right, while 
his principles are essentially wrong ; or that his practice 
may be pure, while his religious opinions are radically er- 
roneous. But nothing can be more contrary both to Scrip- 
ture and experience. The great Founder of our holy Reli- 
gion declares that men are " sanctified by the truth." In 
fact, it is only so far as the truth is received, loved and 
obeyed that real religion has any place either in the heart 
or life. To suppose that any one can be sanctified, or in 
any respect benefited, by embracing error, is as repugnant 
to reason as it is to the word of God. He who u has a 
hope in him," ought ever to be ready to " give a reason 
for it with meekness and fear ;" and he will be ready to 
do so, if his hope be scriptural and intelligent. It is me- 
lancholy to think how frequently this matter is in a great 
measure disregarded by professing christians, otherwise 
well informed. Physicians, Lawyers, Merchants, and 
others, who confidently call themselves by the name of 
Christ, who have given many laborious days and nights 



XX 

to the acquirement of other kinds of knowledge, and 
who would be ashamed of being found ignorant of those 
branches of literature or science to which they profess to 
have attended, manifest no shame whatever in acknow- 
ledging themselves ignorant of the plainest subjects in 
Theology. It is not intended here either to assign the 
reasons, or to show the sin and folly of this deplorable 
fact ; but to remark that the foundation of this fact is 
commonly laid in youth. If the young, and even the 
thinking and serious portion of the young, were as care- 
ful to store their minds with elementary principles, and 
with clear, discriminating views of revealed truth, as 
they are with the best and most accredited elements of 
other sciences, we should not find so many hoary-headed 
christians unable to defend their own professed principles, 
and led astray by the artful votaries of error. That firm 
and accurate foundation of knowledge which is laid in 
youth, is most apt to remain unmoved, and to serve as a 
basis for the loftiest and most useful superstructure in 
after life. 

But, above all, let the Young see to it, that they con- 
tent not themselves with a mere doctrinal, or speculative 
religion. Listen, beloved youth, to the Servant of God, 
when he faithfully tells you in the following pages, that 
your nature is in a state of moral ruin ; that you need 
pardoning mercy, and sanctifying grace ; that you must 
be " transformed by the renewing of your minds," or be 
for ever shut out from the kingdom of God ; and that that 
religion which will effectually serve you, either in life or 
death, must reign in the heart, and govern the conduct. 
The principles and the practice to which he invites you, 
are not those of a sect or party, but those of the Bible ; 



XX 

and without some experimental acquaintance with which 
no one is a Christian. And the more cordially and prac- 
tically they are received, the more efficient will be their 
sustaining and sanctifying power, and the more benign 
the influence which they will diffuse over your whole 
character and destiny. 

May the Divine blessing rest on this and every other 
attempt to conduct our precious Youth to knowledge, 
piety and salvation ! 

SAMUEL MILLER. 

Princeton, July, 1830. 



LECTURE I. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 



PROVERBS IV. 10. 

HEAR, O MY SOST, A2TO RECEIVE MY SAYINGS. 

It can hardly have escaped the observation of any 
reader of the Bible, that a large part of the writings cf 
Solomon, and especially of his proverbs, have a peculiar 
adaptation to the circumstances of the young. From this 
fact it is doubtless a legitimate inference, that he at- 
tached a peculiar importance to the period of youth ; and 
as he was unrivalled for practical wisdom, and wrote un- 
der the inspiration of God, we may fairly conclude that 
his opinion on this subject is correct. It is, moreover, an 
opinion which has been held by the wise and good of 
every age ; and it requires but a moment's reflection to 
perceive that it is built on a correct view of the principlevS 
of human nature, and of the connexion between man : s 
character and destiny. 

Youth is a period of great importance. To 

illustrate this truth is the object of the present discourse. 

I. The importance of the period of youth is manifest 
from the consideration that it is the commencement of a 
rational and immortal existence, the condition of which 
is, in same important respects, concealed from us. 
A 



Youth is the commencement of a rational existence. 
There are orders of being below us, which we contem- 
plate with various degrees of interest, according to their 
different properties. We look, for instance, with higher 
emotions upon the operations of vegetable life in the 
flower unfolding its beauties, or the tree stretching forth 
its boughs towards heaven, than we do upon the clods 
of the valley. In the brute creation, we discover evi- 
dences of a still higher creating agency ; for they are 
endued with animal life and instinct ; with a capacity for 
enjoyment and suffering. But man, though only next 
above the brutes in the scale of being, leaves them, in 
respect to his capacities, at an immense distance. Su- 
peradded to his animal nature, is the gift of reason ; a 
principle which is capable of an indefinite expansion ; by 
which, standing on this earth, he can measure the hea- 
vens, and explore the distant parts of creation. More- 
over, he has not only an intellectual, but a moral na- 
ture ; he has a conscience, which recognizes God as a 
moral Governor, and his law as the rule of duty ; and 
which more than intimates the fact of an approaching 
retribution. He is susceptible of enjoyment and suffer- 
ing, not merely as an animal, but as an intellectual and 
moral being ; and it is in these higher departments of his 
nature, that he is capable of enjoying the bliss of a se- 
raph, or of being tortured with the agony of a fiend. 
However lightly man may think of himself as a creature 
of God, or however he may abuse his own powers, he is 
gifted in a manner which evidently points to some mighty 
result. 

But it were a supposable case, that man might be en- 
dowed with the very powers which he now has, and 
yet, by an annihilating act of the Being who created him, 
his existence might, at some future period, be blotted 
out; and in this case, even the mighty capacities of the 
soul would, in a great measure, lose their importance. 



But man is not only gifted with reason, but is destined 
to immortality. Time was, when he had no existence ; 
but in all future time, he will be a living, intelligent, 
active being. When the foundations of the earth were 
laid, and the heavens spread out as a curtain, he did 
not exist to witness that exhibition of Almighty power ; 
but when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, 
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, he will 
exist, not only as a spectator, but a sharer in those 
amazing scenes. And farther and still farther onward in 
the progress of ages, even to an interminable duration, 
his existence will be protracted : it is not at his option 
whether it shall be continued or not ; for immortality is 
entailed upon him ; and though by his conduct he may 
affect the condition of his being, he can never accom- 
plish the extinction of it. 

But though it is certain that man is destined to an end- 
less existence, there is much in respect to the character 
of it, which, at its commencement, cannot be known, ex- 
cept by the Creator. This is true even in respect to 
the present life. No one can predict with certainty what 
his condition will be, even during the brief period of his 
sojourning here : whether he is to be signally blessed by 
the smiles of Heaven, or to be unusually buffetted by the 
storms of adversity, is a problem which no present cir- 
cumstances can enable him to solve. And so in regard 
to a future existence — we cannot decide in respect to any 
one, at his entrance into life, whether he is hereafter to 
be an heir of glory or an heir of woe ; — a companion of 
fiends or a companion of angels. Such is the mutability 
of the world, the treachery of the heart, the sovereignty 
of God, that the condition of our being, both in the pre- 
sent and future life, must be, in a great measure, con- 
cealed from us, till we learn it by actual experience. 

Collect now the several circumstances which have 
been mentioned under this article, and tell me whether 
they do not invest the morning of human life with pe- 



culiar interest. It is the period in which a rational soul 
commences a career as unlimited as the existence of Je- 
hovah, and attended by joy or woe which imagination in 
its boldest flights never conceived. And over the whole 
path of the soul's existence, there hangs, at present, a 
fearful uncertainty : no one can say, in what manner these 
unfolding faculties are hereafter to be employed ; whether 
in serving God or in opposing him ; whether in bringing 
upon the soul a perpetual shower of blessings, or an 
everlasting torrent of wrath. Is that an interesting mo- 
ment, when the inexperienced adventurer steps from the 
shores of his native country, and trusts himself to the 
mighty deep, to be borne to some far distant region? 
How much more interesting the period, in which an im- 
mortal soul commences the voyage of life, not knowing 
how much he may be tempest-tossed during his passage, 
or whether he may not even be wrecked on the dark 
coast of eternity! If, in the former case, the eyes of 
anxious friends follow the mariner as he goes off into the 
deep, is it not reasonable to suppose, in the latter, that 
the watchful regards of angels are attracted by the condi- 
tion of a young immortal, whose character is yet to be 
formed, and whose destiny is yet to be revealed ? 

II. The importance of the period of youth is farther 
evident from the consideration, that probably ', in most 
cases, it gives a complexion to the whole future existence. 
Every moral action, no doubt, exerts an influence on the 
prevailing disposition of the person by whom it is per- 
formed ; and if we could subject the character of an in- 
dividual, at any given period, to a rigid analysis, we 
should find that it was precisely that which might be ex- 
pected from the combined influence of all his previous 
moral actions. There are instances in which a single 
action, and that in itself apparently an unimportant one — 
has manifestly decided the character and the destin}^ for 
life. One wrong decision has not unfrequently been the 



means of clothing the prospects of an individual with 
gloom and disgrace ; while one good purpose, one victory 
gained over temptation, has often proved the seed which 
has yielded a rich harvest of reputation and virtue. 

But if the influence of a single action, whether good 
or bad, has often such a decisive and visible bearing upon 
future character, what shall be said of the combined in- 
fluence of all the actions which an individual performs, 
during a considerable period of life, and especially in the 
season of youth ? It is at this period that the habits of 
thought, and feeling, and action, are formed ; that the in- 
clinations usually become fixed ; and the whole character 
assumes a definite complexion. It would seem probable, 
therefore, antecedently to experience, that, in general, 
the first impulse given to the mind and heart would be 
the decisive one. But what reason teaches, experience 
abundantly confirms. If we look abroad into the world, 
some indeed we shall find who have disappointed the 
hopes which they early awakened in respect to useful- 
ness and piety ; and others, whose early life was a scene 
of profligacy, who have afterwards been plucked as 
brands from the burning ; but in the great majority of 
instances, it will appear that the direction which the cha- 
racter received in youth, is retained in every succeeding 
period of life. In far the greater number of cases in 
which you see old age cheered by the hopes and com- 
forts of religion, you will find that the foundation of this 
tranquillity was laid in the morning of life ; and on the 
other hand, where you see hoary headed vice shuddering 
in despair on the borders of eternity, it will usually be 
safe to conclude that the agony which you witness is to 
be referred especially to the early neglect of religion. 

Hitherto I have spoken only of the influence which 
the period of youth exerts upon the subsequent periods 
of the present life : but its influence is equally decisive 
upon our whole future existence. In many cases, in- 
deed, the season of youth constitutes the whole period of 
A2 



life, and of course, the whole period of probation : in all 
such instances, none can doubt that it must be decisive of 
the soul's everlasting destiny. Nor is the case materi- 
ally different, where life is continued even to old age ; for 
if our condition in a future world depends upon our cha- 
racter at death, and if our character in the later periods 
of the present life usually takes its complexion from the 
period of youth, then it follows that the influence of this 
period reaches onward to eternity ; — that it is emphati- 
cally the seed-time for eternal life or eternal death. 

III. Another consideration which still farther illus- 
trates the importance of the period of youth is, that it fur- 
nishes peculiar advantages for rendering the whole future 
existence happy ; or for becoming practically religious. 

There is a general susceptibility of character attending 
this period, which is favorable to the cultivation of reli- 
gion. I mean not to imply that the human heart is not 
originally the seat of corrupt inclinations ; for that were 
to call in question not only the decision of the oracles of 
God, but the results of every day's experience. But this 
melancholy truth notwithstanding, it admits of no ques- 
tion that there is something in the very state of the soul 
during the period of youth, which may be said in a com- 
parative sense, to favor the work of its own sanctifica- 
tion. The understanding, not having been brought 
under the dominion of prejudice, is open to the reception 
of truth. The conscience, not having had its dictates 
frequently opposed and trifled with, is ready faithfully to 
discharge its office. The various affections of the heart 
are easily excited ; and more easily than at any subse- 
quent period, may receive a right direction. Who will 
not say that there is in all this a most desirable preparation 
for becoming truly religious ; especially when the state of 
the soul to which I have here referred, is contrasted with 
that almost invincible prejudice, that deep moral insen- 
sibility, which often results from long continued familiarity 
with the world. 



Another advantage for embracing religion connected 
with this period, is, that it is a season of comparative 
leisure. True it is indeed that the want of time can never 
be reasonably urged by any human being, whatever may 
be his age or condition, as an apology for the neglect of 
religion ; but there is no period in respect to which it has 
so little even of the semblance of reason, as that of youth. 
Then the cares of the world which cluster upon manhood, 
are comparatively unknown. The more active scenes of 
life — the strife of business, the din of worldly enterprise, 
are seen and heard only at a distance. Not as in subse- 
quent life, is there a family to be provided for, and a 
thousand domestic cares pressing upon the heart, and 
putting in requisition the hands- There is much leisure 
for serious reading ; especially for reading the volume of 
inspired truth, which is given to be a light to our feet, 
and a lamp to our paths. There is much leisure for se- 
rious reflection, and self-examination ; for applying the 
truths of God's word to the regulation of the heart and 
life. There is much leisure for private communion with 
God ; for christian intercourse ; for attendance on the 
various means of religion ; in short, for every thing which 
may be instrumental either of the renovation of the soul, 
or of its growth in grace. The season of youth, however 
it may be employed, is emphatically the leisure season of 
life ; and he who does not find time to become religious 
then, has no reason to expect that he shall ever find it 
afterwards. 

It is another favorable circumstance in respect to the 
period of which I am speaking, that the efforts which are 
then made towards a life of religion, meet a peculiarly 
ready and cordial co-operation from christian friends. 
When the christian looks upon the veteran in sin, who 
has reached an old age of carelessness, though his eye 
may affect his heart, as he reflects upon his character and 
his doom, yet the hopelessness of the case seems to damp 
resolution, and discourage effort ; and even when he dis- 



8 

covers in him some relentings in view of the past, or some 
anxiety in respect to the future, it is difficult for him to 
regard even these as symptoms of thorough reformation. 
But in regard to the young it is far otherwise. So much 
is there in their circumstances to favor religious impres- 
sions, that christians are peculiarly encouraged to be 
faithful towards them. This is true especially of pious 
parents. They look upon their children, in the morning 
of life, with a mixture of concern and hope ; and they are 
prompted not only by christian feeling, but by parental 
affection, to do every thing in their power to secure their 
salvation. Hence they often warn them of the danger of 
a life of sin, and urge them to enter immediately on a life 
of religion. Hence, every indication of serious feeling on 
the part of their children is regarded by them as a signal 
to double their diligence, in pressing upon them their obli- 
gations, and in endeavoring to bring them to repentance. 
Hence too, they make them the objects of daily prayer, 
and not only bring them around the domestic altar, but 
earnestly intercede for them in the closet. Nor are these 
efforts for the young confined to parents ; but christians in 
general feel themselves especially called upon to labor and 
strive for their salvation ; and whenever they show any 
symptoms of anxiety, there are many around them who 
stand ready to second every effort they make to escape 
from the wrath to come. And is it not a privilege, 
my young friends, thus to be wrestled for by christian 
parents ; — thus to be borne on the hearts of God's people ; 
— thus to be counselled, and exhorted, and aided by those 
who are walking in the path to heaven ? Let repentance 
be delayed to old age, if indeed old age should ever ar- 
rive — and where then will be the pious mother to embalm 
her supplications with her tears ; or where will be the 
companion in years to encourage and accompany you in 
the rugged path of self-denial ; or where will the chris- 
tians be found who will have hope enough in respect to 
you to come, while your last sands are running, and plead 



you with the earnestness which they now manifest, to 
prepare for heaven ? 

As the last and perhaps the most important advantage 
for becoming religious, which belongs to the season of 
youth, I would say that the Spirit of God then, more fre- 
quently than at any other period, exerts his gracious in- 
fluences. These influences he does indeed exert at every 
period ; and sometimes even when the heart has become 
incrusted with the mildew of spiritual death : but expe- 
rience proves that the young are far more likely to be the 
subjects of them than persons at a more advanced period of 
life. To them he speaks most frequently through the 
dispensations of Providence, the preaching of the word, 
the operations of conscience, and even the vanities of the 
world, and charges them to make religion the object of 
their immediate and supreme regard. And I may appeal 
to the fact that his efficacious influences actually are ex- 
erted during this period far more frequently than in any 
subsequent one ; that much the larger part of all who 
embrace religion, do it in the morning of life. Let re- 
vivals of religion be brought to testify on this subject ; 
and if I mistake not, you will find that, while a multitude 
of youth, during these scenes of divine mercy, are seen 
pressing into the kingdom, there are comparatively few 
who have reached the period of middle life, and only here 
and there an individual from the ranks of old ao*e. What 

o 

does this fact prove, my young friends, other than that the 
Holy Spirit is peculiarly ready to exert his influences in 
bringing you to repentance ? 

IV. My last general remark illustrative of the impor- 
tance of the period of youth, is, that it is fraught with 
peculiar dangers. 

In illustrating this article, I shall take for granted the 
fact that man is naturally inclined to evil ; — a fact which, 
you will readily perceive, must invest with much addi- 
tional importance the several sources of danger to which 
I shall refer. 



10 

There is danger resulting from that very susceptibility 
of character, which has already been mentioned as fa- 
vorable to early piety. For if the mind is then peculiarly 
susceptible of truth, it is also proportionably susceptible 
of error. If the conscience possesses all its native sensi- 
bility, opposition to its dictates must exert a peculiarly 
hardening influence. If the feelings may be excited, with 
comparative ease, in favor of religion, they may even more 
readily be enlisted against it. And hence the melancholy 
fact is, that in a multitude of instances, the understanding, 
the conscience, the affections — the whole man, has be- 
come enslaved to a life of sin, at the very period when 
he was most susceptible of the influences of piety. Let 
no young person then repose in the conviction that his 
mountain stands strong, and that he is in no danger of 
becoming a hardened transgressor, merely because he is 
occasionally roused, or melted, or agitated, under the 
exhibition of divine truth : let him take heed lest the 
enemy come, and avail himself of that very susceptibility, 
to bind him hand and foot with the cords of depravity and 
error, and consign him over to a most fearful destruction. 

Moreover, youth is a season of inexperience ; and this 
constitutes another source of danger. Every one knows 
that our most valuable knowledge is derived from expe- 
rience ; that it is far more accurate, more deep, more 
practical than any other. But of this the young, from the 
nature of the case, cannot, in a great degree, avail them- 
selves ; as it is the exclusive prerogative of riper years. 
They have had but little experience of their own hearts ; 
but little opportunity of tracing out the sources of human 
conduct, of becoming acquainted with the evil principles 
which lurk within them — the treachery, perverseness, 
rebellion, which constitute the elements of man's depraved 
nature. They have had but limited experience of the 
world, and are very inadequate judges of its true charac- 
ter. They have ordinarily seen only its bright side ; have 
not often been pierced by its ingratitude, or betrayed by 



11 

its faithlessness, or stung by its neglect. Of its tempta- 
tions too, of the stratagems of the wicked, of the serpen- 
tine influence of worldly pleasure, they know compara- 
tively little. How manifestly does this want of experience 
give the world which they are entering, a powerful ad- 
vantage over them. With but a slight knowledge of 
themselves, they are liable to misjudge in respect to the 
circumstances in which they shall be safe, and to put 
character and happiness in jeopardy, from a wrong esti- 
mate of their strength to resist temptation. With but a 
slight knowledge of the world, they are in danger of 
trusting it where it intends to betray ; and of being carried 
headlong by its influence into the vortex of pleasure and 
vice, while yet they have scarcely suspected that they 
were beyond the limits of virtue and safety. Many a 
youth has gone into the haunts of sin, and finally into the 
world of wo, because at the commencement of his course, 
he did not suspect the danger. 

Again : the world has its thousand snares ; and 
here is another source of danger to the young. There 
are scenes of pleasure, which are misnamed innocent ; 
which, while they avoid the grossness of dissipation, 
wear a bright and fascinating aspect to the young, and 
strongly tempt them to the neglect of religion. There 
are scenes of profane and intemperate riot, which, though 
enough to sicken the heart of piety, hold out a powerful 
temptation to many who have given a few of their first 
years to what is called innocent pleasure. There is the 
stage, with all its splendid apparatus for destroying im- 
mortal souls. The most burning strains of eloquence, 
and the most melting strains of music ; the exquisite ef- 
forts of the pencil and of the chisel, are all prostituted 
to make an appeal to the youthful heart in favor of irre- 
ligion and licentiousness. There are evil books, written 
with a pen dipped in the poison of asps, for the very pur- 
pose of carrying to the youthful breast the elements of 
pollution and death. There are evil men, yes, and evil 



12 

women, too, who go about preaching the doctrine that 
religion is a dream, and death an eternal sleep ; who en- 
circle the unwary youth, in his down-sitting and his up- 
rising, with the snares of death ; and who are prepared 
to celebrate the wreck of his principles and of his hopes, 
with a shout of fiendlike exultation. In these circum- 
stances, who will not say that the most appalling dan- 
gers hang around his path ? 

And now, in view of all that has been said, is it not 
manifest that youth is a period of great importance ? I 
ask you , my young friends, whether, as the commence- 
ment of a rational and immortal existence, and as the 
period which is probably to give a complexion to that 
existence, it is not too important to be devoted to any 
other purposes than those for which it was designed ? Is 
it not too important to be wasted in careless levity, in 
vain amusement ; in any of the unfruitful works of dark- 
ness ? Are not its advantages for becoming religious too 
important to be neglected ; its dangers too serious to be 
regarded with unconcern ? This critical and deeply in- 
teresting season will soon have passed away, and the pe- 
riod of manhood will succeed. The period of manhood, 
did I say ? Ah, it may be the period of retribution ; 
that in which the soul shall be mingling in the hosannas 
of the redeemed, or the wailing of the lost. But wher- 
ever, or in whatever circumstances, future years may 
find you, rely on it, the period of youth will have con- 
tributed much to make you what you will then be, both 
in respect to your character and condition. Regard each 
moment then as a price put into your hands to gain wis- 
dom ; and remember that now, now, emphatically in re- 
spect to you, is the accepted time ; now is the day of 
salvation. 



LECTURE II. 



DANGER OF EVIL COMPANY. 



1st CORINTHIANS XV. 33. 

EVIL COMMUNICATIONS CORRUPT GOOD MANNERS. 

Nothing is so valuable to man as his character. This 
is proverbial even in regard to the present life. Strip 
him of every thing else, and leave him with a good con- 
science, and what will probably attend it, a fair reputa- 
tion, and all that you do will be comparatively harmless. 
You may have wounded his sensibility, or overcome his 
resolution, or clouded his worldly prospects ; but he has 
that which, in the end, will be likely to place him above 
the power of malice. His character is a broad shield, 
which the arrows of adversity, and even the sting of de- 
traction, can never effectually penetrate. Be his circum- 
stances what they may, the fact that he has a good con- 
science and a good character, may justly render him con- 
tented and fearless. 

But if the character which is formed here, be impor- 
tant in its relation to our present existence, it is infinitely 
more so, as it stands connected with eternity. This life 
is the only period of our probation. It is a school in 
which we are training for an immortal existence. Every 
moral action of our lives will exert an influence upon us 
either in heaven or hell ; and the sum of these actions 
B 



14 

will decide the complexion of our characters, and of 
course, our eternal destiny. 

If these remarks be just, then it clearly follows that 
there is no part of our conduct which ought to be con- 
sidered unimportant. The least departure from duty, the 
least violation of conscience, may be a seed which will 
produce a harvest of everlasting wo. It may be the 
germ of a sinful habit. It may be the first of a pro- 
gressive series of wicked actions which will extend 
through eternity. It may prove the outer door to the 
temple of vice ; and he who enters it, may reasonably 
expect to be led on, till he has explored all its scenes of 
pollution and darkness, and till he finally sacrifices his 
immortal soul on the altar of confirmed profligacy. 

Perhaps there is no influence so uniform and so pow- 
erful in the formation of character, as that of example. 
This results from the fact that we are creatures of imi- 
tation : there is a principle in our nature which leads 
us instinctively, and from our earliest childhood, to 
copy the manners of those with whom we associate. 
This, to a great extent, is involuntary ; insomuch that 
persons have often unconsciously contracted peculiarities 
of character, which, when they were reminded of them, 
they could instantly trace to the example of some friend. 
I do not here inquire whether we are more likely, from 
our constitution, to imitate good or bad examples ; but 
only speak of the general influence of example, of 
whatever kind, founded on the fact that we are naturally 
imitative beings. 

The considerations at which I have now just hinted, 
viz. that with the characters which we form here, must 
be connected not only our present but eternal condition, 
and that there is no influence more powerful in forming 
these characters than that of example ; — these conside- 
rations, I think, must prepare you suitably to estimate 
the subject to which I am about to call your attention ; — 
I mean the danger of evil company. I wish each 



15 

one of you to hear for himself ; and to let conscience 
make a faithful and honest application ; and it is my ear- 
nest prayer to God, and I doubt not that it is the prayer 
of your parents who are here among you, that you may 
so "listen, and so apply, that this discourse shall prove the 
means of making you better and happier through eternity. 
That evil company has a corrupting and dangerous ef- 
fect, is a fact so well understood, and so universally ac- 
knowledged, that it would be quite superfluous to enter 
into any direct proof of it. The wisest man in the 
world has long ago said that " a companion of fools shall 
be destroyed ;" and who has not seen the assertion ve- 
rified in instances almost innumerable ? It will be more 
to our purpose, therefore, to show you the process by 
which evil example operates ; or to notice the different 
principles which it brings into action, in corrupting the 
morals, degrading the character, and ruining the soul. 

I. The danger of associating with wicked companions 
commences in the fact that it renders vice familiar. 

I know it has been fashionable to say, in the language 
of a distinguished poet, that 

" Vice is a monster of so frightful mein, 
" That to be hated needs but to be seen ; M 

and on tins principle some have gone so far as to justify 
the most profane and licentious exhibitions of the stage ; 
and have gravely contended that those splendid scenes of 
impiety, decked out with all that is most attractive and 
provoking to the sensual appetites, are fitted indirectly to 
nourish good affections, and lead to a virtuous life. The 
fundamental error of this kind of philosophy is, that it 
overlooks the melancholy fact that man is a being of de- 
praved inclinations ; and the moment you bring him in 
contact with vice, you place by his side a companion to 
whom his arms and his heart involuntarily fly open. 
However you will account for the fact, all experience 
proves that there is a tendency in human nature to go 



, 16 

astray ; and that while nothing more than the absence of 
restraint is necessary to the formation of evil habits, a 
habit of virtue and piety is always the result of fixed 
resolution and severe effort. If then the state of the 
heart naturally be such as to render it most sensible to 
the solicitations of vice, you will easily perceive how 
this consideration operates to invest all needless inter- 
course with evil company with great danger. You may 
apply fire to materials which are exposed to the frost and 
damps of winter, and you will find it difficult to produce 
a flame ; but if you bring it in contact with some highly 
inflammable substance, you will see a blaze, or hear an 
explosion, in an instant. In like manner, if all our in- 
clinations were originally on the side of virtue, the dan- 
ger from being familiar with vice might be comparatively 
small ; but the case becomes greatly changed, when it is 
recollected that we have within us evil propensities, 
which are ready to kindle as soon as the torch of temp- 
tation is applied to them. 

I am aware that the circumstances of our present con- 
dition sometimes necessarily lead us to witness scenes of 
wickedness ; but this, so far as it is unavoidable, is to be 
considered as constituting part of our trial, and as making 
a loud demand for our vigilant activity and resistance. 
But in a large part of the instances in which young per- 
sons are the witnesses of vice, it is not because Provi- 
dence places them in the way of it in the course of their 
duty, but because they are prompted by inclination. 
Now let me say that those of you who have yielded so 
far to curiosity, or any other principle, as to place your- 
selves deliberately and unnecessarily in the way of vice, 
— I care not what kind it is — have unconsciously en- 
tered into a league with it. The fatal poison is already 
in your hand, and unless you cast it from you without 
delay, in all probability, you are ruined. 



17 

II. It is the tendency of mixing with bad associates, 
to benumb and finally destroy the moral sense. 

By the moral sense, you will understand me to mean 
that faculty or principle of action, partly of an intellec- 
tual and partly of a moral character, by which we dis- 
cern the difference between right and wrong, and ap- 
prove the one and condemn the other. In some, I sup- 
pose, this faculty is originally more active and delicate 
than in others ; but in all, it is an essential part of the 
human constitution, and is indispensable to moral agency. 
It is easy to see that in the formation of character, much 
will depend on cultivating or neglecting to cultivate it ; 
and of course, whatever contributes to render our moral 
perception less accurate, or our moral sensibility less 
keen, must proportionably put in jeopardy our virtue. 
Now let me ask whether the voice of universal expe- 
rience does not decide that mingling in evil company, 
and witnessing evil examples, has this unhappy ten- 
dency ? Have not even persons of an established prin- 
ciple of piety, who have been called, in the course of 
providence, to mingle in scenes of wickedness, found it 
exceedingly difficult to maintain that high and awful 
sense of the evil of sin, which they wished to culti- 
vate ; and have they not been obliged to fortify them- 
selves against this deadening influence, by a double 
degree of watchfulness and prayer ? But perhaps there 
are some before me who can bear testimony on this sub- 
ject from experience. Can you not remember the time 
when some particular vice, say that of profane swearing, 
or gaming, or drunkenness, excited in you emotions of 
disgust and even horror ; — when you could hardly look 
upon its miserable victim without an aching heart ? But 
it may be that you have since frequently been in vicious 
company ; and the sounds of blasphemy and the riot and 
loathsomeness of intemperance have become familiar 
to you ; and has not this familiarity rendered you in- 
sensible, in a great degree, to the odiousness of these vi- 
B2 



18 

ces ? Nay, are there not some among you who can now 
commit, without much remorse, sins, the very thought 
of which would once have made you tremble ? Look 
back, young man, and see how far you have already 
fallen towards the gulf of profligacy and ruin ; and then, 
in the light of your past experience, and over the ruins 
of a good conscience, look forward and prophecy con- 
cerning your future doom ! 

The extinction of the moral sense is usually very gra- 
dual, and the progress of its decline is often marked, 
with great accuracy, by the conduct. Every one knows 
that conscience is originally one of the most active and 
powerful of all the inhabitants of the human breast ; and 
that she will never yield up her authority till she has 
sustained a severe struggle. There is nothing, perhaps, 
in which this conflict is more clearly marked, than in the 
progress of a young man, who has had a pious education, 
towards a habit of profaneness. Though he has been 
accustomed occasionally to hear the language of cursing 
from others, the impressions of his childhood are too 
strong, to allow him immediately to copy it. At length, 
in an evil hour, he summons resolution enough to make 
the awful experiment of uttering an oath ; but his fal- 
tering tongue and blushing cheek proclaim, that there is 
a commotion and a remonstrance within. Conscience 
rouses up all her energies, and thunders out a rebuke, 
which almost puts him into the attitude of consternation. 
Perhaps his early resolutions to reverence the name and 
authority of God, come thronging upon his remem- 
brance ; — or perhaps the instructions of other days, en- 
forced by parental affection, rise up before him ; — or it 
may be, that the image of a departed parent, who had 
trained him up in the way that he should go, haunts his 
busy and agitated mind, and reproaches him with filial 
ingratitude. He resolves that the dreadful privilege of 
taking the name of God in vain, has been purchased at 
too great expense ; and that he will not venture to re- 



19 

peat an experiment that has been so fruitful in remorse 
and agony. But presently he is heard to drop another 
oath, and another ; and in each successive instance, the 
conflict with conscience becomes less severe, till, at 
length, this faithful reprover is silenced, and he blas- 
phemes his Maker's name without remorse, and almost 
without his own observation. When I see an ingenuous 
youth taking the first steps in this path of death ; — when 
I see his countenance change, and hear his voice falter, 
an*] the embarrassment and awkwardness of his manner 
tell me that conscience is uttering her remonstrance at 
the very moment when the language of profaneness is 
upon his lips, I say to myself, ' Poor young man, little 
do you know what disgrace and wretchedness you are 
treasuring up for yourself !' I regard him as having set 
his face like a flint towards perdition ; and I read on his 
character, in dark and ominous letters, " The glory is 
departed /" 

It is important here to be observed, that the effect of 
any particular vice in destroying the moral sense, is uni- 
versal ; that is, by being familiar with any one sin, the 
mind gradually contracts a degree of insensibility to all 
others. For instance, if you indulge in profaneness, 
the sin of licentiousness, or drunkenness, as an offence 
against God, will not appear to you in its native odi- 
ousness ; for this plain reason, that, by indulging in sin 
of any kind, you lose your regard for God's authority. 
There is also such an intimate connexion between diffe- 
rent vices, that it is exceedingly difficult to be devoted to 
one, without being, in a greater or less degree, the slave 
of more. Remember, therefore, that, in frequenting the 
company of the vicious, you expose yourselves not only 
to the particular vices which you may happen to witness 
in them, but to any others to which subsequent tempta- 
tions may invite you ; because, when you have once cast 
off the fear of God, your heart will be open to every bad 
impression, and will be a soil in which every kind of sin 
will flourish luxuriantly. 



20 

III. It is another effect of associating with evil com- 
pany, that it checks the operation of the principle of 
shame, or renders one regardless of the opinion of the 
world* This too is part of our original constitution ; 
and is so essential and active a principle, that the absence 
of it is always taken as a decisive indication of con- 
firmed profligacy ; insomuch that there is hardly a more 
striking epitome of a thoroughly depraved character, 
than that he is without shame. Though some higher 
principle than a regard to the opinion of the world is 
necessary to constitute an action good in the sight of 
God, or to be the foundation of a religious life ; and 
though this principle, like every other, is liable to abuse, 
and needs to be properly restrained and regulated ; still, 
no doubt it was intended by Providence to impose a 
check upon our vicious inclinations ; and so essential is 
its operation to the welfare, and I may say, the exis- 
tence of society, that if all those evil propensities which 
are now kept in check by a regard to the opinion of the 
world, were allowed to operate freely, it is probable that 
all the opposition which human laws could make to the 
vices of men, would be no more than the weakest mound 
of earth set to defy the angry torrent, as it comes rush- 
ing from the mountains. If, then, this principle be so 
important to the preservation of virtue in the commu- 
nity, and, of course, to the virtue of each individual, 
surely any thing which has a tendency to extinguish it 
is greatly to be deprecated ; and that this is the direct 
tendency of evil company, must be obvious to every one. 
Here again, I appeal directly to the consciences of those, 
if there be any such before me, whose experience ren- 
ders them the most competent judges. When you first 
associated with those who took the name of God in vain, 
would not the thought of your ever being heard to utter 
the same language have crimsoned your cheek with 
shame ? But after a while, did not this peculiar sensibi- 
lity to the opinion of the world so far wear off, that when 



21 

none but your sinful companions were present, you ven- 
tured a profane expression ; and even after you could 
swear fearlessly in their presence, was it not a conside- 
rable time before you could feel willing to hazard an oath 
in the hearing of your serious friends ? And when, af- 
ter taking the name of God in vain, you have sometimes 
turned your face, and been unexpectedly met by the re- 
proving countenance of some pious friend, have you not 
been awed into confusion by the majesty of virtue ; and 
felt that you had done an act which, in the estimation of 
that good man, would cover you with disgrace ? But 
you may, for ought I know, have long since bid adieu to 
all such scruples ; and you may be congratulating your- 
selves upon the victory you have gained over a prejudice 
of education ; and you may have become so shockingly 
familiar with the dialect of hell, that even the presence 
of the virtuous and good cannot restrain you from it : 
for all this may be calculated upon as a legitimate con- 
sequence of being often found in the way of sinners. 
Just so it is with the sin of intemperance. Probably 
the greatest drunkard in the community can remember 
the time when he would have shuddered at the thought 
of thus foolishly sacrificing his reputation ; and perhaps 
there was hardly ever an instance in which a man yielded 
to this kind of temptation for the first time, that he was 
not thoroughly ashamed of it, and would turn his face 
from you when you met him in the street, lest your 
countenance should reveal to him your pity or contempt. 
But by frequently resorting to the company of drunk- 
ards, and by repeating a few times the brutish experi- 
ment, the flush of shame faded from his cheek, and 
made way for a still deeper hue of crimson, which pro- 
claims that he is a shameless sot. And so it is with re- 
spect to every other bad habit. By frequenting the so- 
ciety of the vicious, a person soon comes practically to 
regard them as the most important part of the world ; 
and consequently, his regard for the opinion of the good, 



22 

and his fear of losing it, are gradually diminished and 
destroyed. 

IV. Another sentiment which is brought into operation 
in aid of a vicious habit, by associating with wicked com- 
panions, is the dread of being singular. 

There is nothing that goes to the heart of a young man 
like " the world's dread laugh ;" or the idea of standing 
alone ; or of being charged with superstitious scruples of 
conscience : and this is a principle of which the abettors 
of vice are always sure to avail themselves, in regard to 
those who are inexperienced. When a young man, 
whose mind has been stored with good sentiments through 
the influence of education, falls into their company, it is 
wonderful to observe how their invention is quickened for 
devising means for his destruction. They take care not 
to display to him all the mysteries of iniquity at once, lest 
it should produce a shock which should drive him from 
their society. At first, perhaps, he discovers in them 
nothing more than an excessive cheerfulness ; and so far, 
he thinks they may be imitated without much danger. 
But it is not long before he must take another step ; and 
if he hesitates and falters now, he sees on one side, a 
reproachful frown, and on the other, a contemptuous 
smile : one, perhaps, charges him with unmanly super- 
stition, and another with the want of independence ; or it 
may be, the whole fraternity of them set up one general 
shout of ridicule. At such a moment, I look upon a 
young man as suspended between life and death ; and as 
the experiment which is now going forward may result, 
I expect his eternal destiny will be decided. If I could 
look into his heart at this awful crisis, I should expect to 
find it in a state of fearful agitation ; and if the power of 
reflection had not deserted him, to find him proposing to 
himself some such questions as these : — " What step is 
this which I am now tempted to take ? Whither will it 
conduct me ? May it not ruin my character, and ruin my 



23 
soul ? What mean these counsels and warnings of my 
early youth, that now come knocking at the door of my 
heart ? If I yield, will not the hearts of my pious friends 
bleed with tenfold deeper sorrow than if I were to die ; — 
nay, will it not almost send a pang of agony down into 
the graves of my departed parents, who dedicated me to 
God, and with their dying breath charged me to beware 
of a life of sin ? But how can I sustain the anguish of 
being singular ? How can I bear to be thought mean 
and spiritless ; to hear these shouts of ridicule, and 
witness these expressions of contempt ? No, I will not 
submit to this intolerable burden : I will rush headlong 
into the haunts of sin, and endeavor to stifle conscience 
and drown reflection. Cease, then, to trouble me, ye 
recollections of my early days. Ye pious friends, who 
have followed me all my life with affectionate wishes and 
good offices, I can heed you no longer. I will sooner 
pierce all your hearts with anguish, than to stand alone 
and try to stem this torrent of ridicule. And you too, 
departed parents, even if I knew I should disturb the 
repose of your graves, and plant a thorn in that pillow 
which sustains your head in yonder lonely mansion, — I 
could not bear to be singular. Leave me therefore, 
friends ; leave me, conscience ; leave me, every tender 
and endearing recollection ; leave me too, ye gloomy 
forebodings of future misery ; and let me sacrifice myself 
as quietly as I can ! I can hazard any thing else, even 
the eternal burnings of hell : but I cannot, I will not, 
hazard the odium of being singular !" I do believe, my 
hearers, that many a young man, who now sits in the 
seat of the scoffer, if he would honestly tell you his whole 
experience, would be obliged to relate the story of some 
such conflict as this which I have here supposed ; and it 
may be that there are young persons before me, who can 
recollect something like it in their own experience. But 
if I knew there were such a case, I should hardly think it 



24 

premature to call upon you to begin even now to mourn 
for the death of an immortal soul. 

V. I shall close the illustration of this subject with one 
more remark ; and that is, that it is the tendency of evil 
company to separate a person from the means of grace. 

What though he may live in the midst of christian 
privileges, and almost at the very threshold of the sanc- 
tuary ; — will he, think you, enter those hallowed courts, 
where every thing betokens reverence and purity, when 
his heart loathes the service of his Maker ? Will he 
deliberately place himself in the way of reproof for those 
very vices to which he has deliberately resolved to yield ? 
Or will he be likely to read the word of God, when he 
meets his own sentence of condemnation on every page ? 
I do not say indeed that the whole extent of this evil will 
ordinarily be realized in the early stages of vice : on the 
contrary, I well know that its progress, for the most part, 
is gradual : but I do say — and I appeal to the heart of 
every profligate for the truth of it — that the tendency of 
vicious company is, finally, to form a complete separation 
from all the means of religion. If he be entirely devoted to 
the service of sin, it were an absurdit}^ to suppose that he 
should have either time or relish for the service of God ; 
and even if he attend upon it with external formality for 
a while, it will soon become too irksome to be continued. 
And when the means of grace are once abandoned, I 
know not where we are to look for a more decisive 
symptom of a hard heart and a reprobate mind. We 
must not indeed venture to limit the power of the Most 
High ; but if there ever be a case which, upon all the 
principles of human probability, we may pronounce hope- 
less, and in which our most awful apprehensions may 
reasonably cluster around the destiny of a fallen mortal, 
surely it is the case of him who has voluntarily cut him- 
self off from the means of salvation. 



25 

On a review of this subject, 

1. We may see how insidious is vice. From small 
and almost imperceptible beginnings, it gradually makes 
its way, till it reduces the whole man to its dominion, and 
brings into captivity every affection and faculty of the 
soul. It first throws out the bait of pleasure, and flatters 
its victim on to forbidden ground ; then it makes him the 
sport of temptation ; and does not give him over till he is 
fast bound in the chains of eternal death. In its very 
nature, it is deceitful ; it is a stranger to all open and 
honest dealing ; its very element is the region of false 
appearances, and lying promises, and fatal snares. When 
it addresses itself to the unwary youth, it puts on a 
smiling countenance, and makes fair pretensions, and 
takes care to conceal its hideous features, till, like a ser- 
pent, it has entwined him with its deadly folds, and ren- 
dered his escape impossible. For instance, how common 
is it for young men to yield to the solicitations of evil 
companions, from the notion that it discovers great inde- 
pendence of character ! But what sort of independence, 
I would ask, is that which cannot command resolution 
enough to resist a few worthless and wicked companions ? 
What sort of independence is that which had rather put 
at hazard the interests of eternity, than to brave the 
sneers of half a dozen vile associates ? The truth is that 
the person who acts this part, shows himself the greatest 
coward that walks the earth : he is afraid to encounter 
the reproaches of those whose censure is the highest 
praise ; and rather than do it, he deliberately consigns his 
character and his soul to destruction. Again, how often 
do young men become profane, from the idea that pro- 
faneness marks the gentleman ; and that to break out 
occasionally in the language of cursing, gives them a sort 
of dignity and importance. But let them go out into the 
street, and see in what kind of characters this vice is to 
be found in its most frightful perfection ; and then say 
C 



26 

whether they wish to share the honor of profaneness 
with such companions. Let them listen to the poor 
drunkard who has fallen down in the highway, and is 
just waking from his beastly slumber, and they will find 
him muttering an oath ; cursing the God that made him, 
or it may be, the hand that is attempting to relieve him. 
Let them go into the most vulgar circles where not even 
decency is tolerated, and there they will find profaneness, 
vulgarity, and intemperance, mingling in the same scene 
of disgusting riot. And yet they are cheated into the 
delusion that, at least, an occasional indulgence in this 
vice makes them more respectable. They are beguiled, 
as were our first parents by the fatal apple ; and think 
not of the danger, till it is too late to avert it. 

2. We learn from this subject, how dreadful is the 
character of a corrupter of others. Every wicked man 
is more or less chargeable with this, whether he parti- 
cularly intends it or not ; because it is impossible for him 
to live in the world, without exerting an influence upon 
those with whom he associates ; and this influence will 
receive its complexion altogether from his character. 
But there are men with whom the business of corrupting 
others is a profession ; who deliberately lay their plans 
for ruining immortal souls ; who seize upon the unwary 
youth, like the animal upon his prey, and never leave him 
till they have accomplished his destruction. I know not 
that there are any such here : I am willing to believe 
there are none : but if such a man has been providentially 
sent to the sanctuary, I cannot feel willing that he should 
go away without a word of w r arning. And I am not 
going to expostulate with you in regard to the danger, or 
cruelty, or guilt of your conduct ; but only to direct your 
thoughts to one event, which will as certainly overtake 
you as that there is a God in Heaven. You are hasten- 
ing to the judgment ; and at that awful bar, you will 
meet every soul that you have helped to destroy ; and 



27 

the blood of each of these souls will be upon your own 
head. Nay, more ; your corrupting influence may be 
propagated from generation to generation ; and thousands 
whom you may never see in the flesh, may recognize you 
at the judgment as their destroyer ; and the united curses 
of all these miserable beings may be heaped upon you 
through the ages of a suffering eternity. If your heart 
has not absolutely received the dark seal of reprobation, 
or if all the fountains of feeling have not been congealed 
by the chilling atmosphere of vice, must not the prospect 
fill you with horror ? 

3. The subject supplies an important argument to all 
in favor of a religious life. It is but too common for 
persons of vicious character to take shelter under the plea 
that they injure none but themselves ; and that, whatever 
the consequence of their conduct may be, they alone must 
bear it. Never was there a greater mistake. A corrupt 
example, even where it is not accompanied by a delibe- 
rate purpose of corruption, mingles contagion with the 
whole moral atmosphere in which it operates ; and such 
must ever be its effect, until human nature is subject to a 
new set of laws. What a powerful motive is here for a 
life of virtue and piety ! You are acting, not for your- 
selves alone, but for the world around you ; and when 
we urge you to a life of religion, we are pleading in be- 
half of the immortal interests of your fellow men. What 
an argument also for the most exemplary circumspection 
on the part of the professed disciples of Christ ! You may 
have even a living principle of religion, which will secure 
your own salvation ; and yet for the want of proper vigi- 
lance, you may be betrayed into practices which will 
blast the rising germ of youthful promise, and even cause 
the darkest shades of vice to settle on some heart which 
had already begun to yield to the impressions of religion. 
How tremendous the thought that a friend, by a careless 
and unedifying example, should be instrumental in de- 



28 
stroying his friend for whom he would even have died ! 
How delightful, on the other hand, is the reflection that, 
by yielding your hearts and lives to the purifying in- 
fluence of the gospel, you may not only save yourselves, 
but may be preparing to meet some in heaven — it may be, 
the objects of your tenderest affection — who will have 
been conducted thither by the light of your example ! 

Finally : Let every young person be deeply impressed 
with the danger of his situation, and avoid the beginning 
of evil. I cannot suppose that there is a youth before 
me, who has deliberately formed the purpose to resign 
himself to a vicious habit, and to persevere in it till he 
shall enter eternity. But I have reason to fear that there 
are those here in whom this fearful result will actually be 
realized ; those who are venturing into the path of vice 
with that most idle of all notions, that they shall retreat 
early enough to save their souls. Alas, with all your 
advantages, I fear you have not yet learned the slippery 
and insidious nature of vice. As well might you think 
to take the deadly viper into your bosom, and render him 
harmless by flattering words ; or as well might you drink 
down the fatal poison, and expect to stop its progress in 
your system, when the blood had curdled at your heart, 
as to think of being the companion of fools, and yet not 
be destroyed. If you enter on a career of vice, and make 
the wicked your chosen companions, I acknowledge that 
Omnipotence may, in his adorable sovereignty, pluck you 
as a brand out of the burning ; but without some special 
interposition which you have no right to expect, it is 
altogether probable that you will be lost forever. Your 
only safety lies in a cordial, practical, immediate recep- 
tion of the gospel of Christ. Every other guide will 
mislead you : — this will conduct you safely and certainly 
to heaven. 

And now, if such a conclusion would not do violence 
to all the principles of human calculation, I would faiu 



29 

believe that all of you have resolved to enter immediately, 
and in earnest, on a religious life. But probably there 
are some here, who have not even thought of forming 
such a purpose ; and perhaps others who have formed it, 
in whose remembrance it will hereafter exist, as a monu- 
ment of the power of temptation, or the treachery of the 
heart. I confess that an ominous gloom settles upon my 
mind, as it ventures forward to explore the path of these 
persons through the darkness of futurity. I see them 
going away from this place, unaffected by all which they 
have heard, and returning to the haunts of sin with as 
keen a relish as ever. I see them becoming more and 
more hardened in vice, turning their backs upon religious 
instruction, and living as if eternity were a dream, and 
the word of God a fable. At no great distance onward 
in the path of life, I discover them struggling under the 
pressure of adversity. I hear them call to the world for 
assistance ; but the world turns a deaf ear to their en- 
treaties. I extend my views yet a little further, and see 
these same persons on the bed of death. I see by the 
sinking countenance, the fluttering pulse, the faltering 
accents, that their conflict with the destroyer has com- 
menced. I cast an eye around me to see whether any of 
their former vicious companions are present, to try to 
sustain them in this awful exigency ; but not one of them 
is to be seen : theirs was the work of destruction, not of 
consolation. I see them writhing in agonies unutterable ; 
oppressed and appalled by the prospect of an opening re- 
tribution, without a hold in the universe on which to hang 
a single hope. I hear their lamentations over a mispent 
life ; their cutting reflections upon their miserable asso- 
ciates ; their agonizing supplications for a longer space 
for repentance : and while my eye rests with horror on 
the frightful impressions that Despair has made upon the 
countenance, I witness the ominous change, which tells 
me that the soul is in eternity. And then, amidst all the 
C2 



30 

waitings of parental tenderness which surround me ; and 
while my mind is busy in trying to recollect some word 
or look which might have been a symptom of repentance ; 
— even then, from that world where " hope never comes 
that comes to all," I seem to hear echoed in groans of 
unavailing anguish, " the harvest is past, the summer is 
ended, and I am not saved!" 

And is there a youth before me, of whose future lot all 
this may prove to have been a faithful prediction ? Es- 
pecially, is there one who has been dedicated to God, and 
had the benefit of a christian education and parental 
prayers, in whose experience this complicated wretched- 
ness shall be realized ? " Lord God, thou knowest !" 



LECTURE III. 

DANGER OF EVIL INSTRUCTION- 



PROVERBS XIX. 27. 

CEASE, MY SON, TO HEAR THE INSTRUCTION THAT CAIT5ETH 
TO ERR FROM THE WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

The primary elements of a good character are good 
principles. Not that good principles necessarily imply a 
good character ; for experience proves that passion often 
neutralizes their influence ; but a truly good character does 
necessarily involve good principles. Let a system of 
false opinions in respect to religion once gain possession 
of any mind, and what can you expect but that from this 
bitter fountain will issue streams of corruption and death. 

Hence it is that those evil men who corrupt and destroy 
the young, are exceedingly apt to assail, first, their reli- 
gious principles ; not doubting, if they can gain a victory 
here, that they shall be able, without difficulty, to storm 
the citadel of the heart. To this end, they often make 
the great truths of religion the subject of conversation ; 
assailing them with sophistry on the one hand, and ridi- 
cule on the other. They thrust into their hands books 
and newspapers, to occupy their leisure, which are art- 
fully designed to unhinge their moral and religious prin- 
ciples. And not unfrequently this malignant agency is 
exerted in a covert manner ; and the youth is brought in 
contact with these vehicles of death, and has actually 



32 

begun to extract the poison, before he is aware of it. In 
short, every means of corrupting the principles of the 
young which the ingenuity of man can devise, has been, 
and still is, employed ; and that too by persons of every 
rank, from the highest to the lowest in the community. 

It is in reference to efforts like these that the wise man 
gives the advice contained in our text : " Cease, my son, 
to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words 
of knowledge." In the spirit of this direction, I shall 
endeavor, in the present discourse, first, to expose some 

OF THE ERRORS OF WHICH YOUTH AT THE PRESENT DAY 

are in danger ; and, secondly, urge some considera- 
tions TO DISSUADE THEM FROM BEING FOUND IN THE 
WAY OF EVIL INSTRUCTION. 

I. I am, first, to expose some of the errors of 

WHICH YOUTH, AT THE PRESENT DAY, ARE IN DANGER. 

1. The first which I shall notice, is, that the Bible is 
not a divine revelation. 

I am aware that this is, by no means, a day of triumph 
for infidelity ; and that the man who now openly casts off 
the authority of revelation, does it at the expense of being 
branded with at least some degree of public disgrace. 
Still there are to be found those, even at this day — and I 
fear not a few — who have hardihood enough to pronounce 
the Bible a forgery ; who deliberately set themselves to 
seal this fountain of consolation against the wretched — 
this fountain of salvation against the sinner. Unhappily, 
we live so near the period in which the world was con- 
vulsed by what seemed the momentary triumph of in- 
fidelity, that infidels of our day find weapons enough for 
prosecuting their malignant warfare, forged at their hands ; 
and yet, as it would seem, for no other purpose than to 
keep a malignant invention busy, they are, from time to 
time, replenishing their armory with other weapons of 
their own devising. Those to whom I now refer, are 



33 

open in their hostility to the Bible : they breathe out the 
venom of infidelity wherever they go ; and put their books 
in circulation whenever they have opportunity ; and glory 
in their shame. But there are others who lend their aid 
to the same cause by means a little less direct, but not less 
effectual. Perhaps they will not tell you that they be- 
lieve the Bible to be a forgery ; perhaps they will even 
give a vague assent to its being a divine revelation ; — but 
they will tell you with nearly the same breath, of different 
passages which have a contradictory meaning ; of stories 
too trifling, and of doctrines too absurd, to have had such 
a Being as God for their author : and thus, by endeavor- 
ing to bring into contempt a part of the Bible, they aim 
to destroy the authority of the whole. So long as men 
of this character are scattered through society, who can 
doubt that young people are in danger of being corrupted 
by infidelity ? 

Now, my young friends, I will tell you, if you are ever 
tempted, for a moment, to give heed to those who would 
persuade you to renounce your belief in the Bible as a 
divine revelation, what you must be able to prove, before 
you can consistently venture on infidel ground. 

You must be able to show that the miracles of which 
the Bible contains a record, either were never performed, 
or if they were, that they do not prove its divine authority. 
If you take the former side of the alternative, and say that 
these miracles were never performed, you must still admit 
either that they were pretended to be performed, or they 
were not. If they were pretended to be performed, as 
recorded in scripture, it behooves you to show how it was 
that so many competent witnesses, and among them the 
most malignant enemies, in circumstances the most favor- 
able for detecting imposture, and for several years in suc- 
cession, should actually have been deceived. If you say 
that they were not pretended to be performed, then you 
have to account for the fact that such a record of them as 
that which the Bible contains, should have been made, at 



34 

the very time when the imposture — if it were one — was 
most open to detection ; and that it should have been cir- 
culated first among the very persons who would have 
been most interested and most able to detect it ; who yet 
never even pretended to call the facts in question. If 
you say that the record of these miracles was not made 
during the age in which they were professedly performed, 
but that it was palmed upon some succeeding age, then 
you have to account for the fact that the whole mass of 
historical testimony fixes the date of this record to nearly 
the period in which they are alleged to have been per- 
formed ; and you have this additional difficulty to solve, 
— how a record of facts, purporting to have occurred un- 
der the observation of the very people to whom the re- 
cord was first given, could have been received by them as 
a true record, when, at the same time, no such facts had 
ever fallen within their knowledge. 

But if you choose the latter side of the alternative, and 
say that these miracles were actually wrought, but still 
do not prove the Bible to be a divine revelation ; — you 
have then to show either that the God of truth would 
give the stamp of his authority to falsehood, or else that 
these mighty works were performed by the aid of evil 
spirits ; for that they transcended the limits of human 
power, admits of no question. The former of these 
suppositions — that Jehovah has lent his sanction to false- 
hood — you will not dare to admit, even in thought. If 
you admit the latter, and refer the miracles of the Bible 
to diabolical agency, then you have this great moral phe- 
nomenon to explain — how the enemy of all good came 
to be so heartily and earnestly engaged in the destruction 
of his own kingdom ; for the manifest tendency of all 
the miracles of the Bible was to promote the cause of 
righteousness. 

Here then you perceive, at the threshold of infidelity, 
you have most serious difficulties to encounter ; but the 
half has not been told you. You have, farther, to ac- 



35 

count for the fact that this book contains a long chain of 
prophecies, extending almost from the beginning of the 
world to the present time, and to all future ages ; — that, 
as the plan of Providence has been developed, these pro- 
phecies have regularly had their fulfilment in the history 
of the church and the world ; — that the most minute and 
improbable events have occurred in exact correspondence 
with predictions which were written ages before their 
occurrence. If there were no divine wisdom here, 
whence this marvellous power of lifting the veil that 
hides futurity ? How is it that a worm can tell of things 
that are to be, unless it has been mounting up above the 
dust, and holding communion with Omniscience ? Who 
dares be so impious as to say that Jehovah would ar- 
range the system of his Providence, to meet the conjec- 
tures of weak fanaticism or wicked imposture ? 

You have, moreover, before you can consistently re- 
ject the divine authority of the Bible, to account for the 
fact that so many different persons as were concerned in 
writing it, living in different ages, in various states of 
society, and in circumstances to preclude the possibility 
of collusion, could have produced a book between whose 
various parts there is the most perfect, though evidently, 
on their part, the most undesigned, harmony. If all the 
letters of which the Bible is composed, were to be sepa- 
rated from each other, and thrown promiscuously into 
the air, and should fall to the earth in precisely the order 
which they originally held, making a regular and com- 
plete book, it would not be a greater anomaly in human 
experience, than would be found in the fact that such a 
book as the Bible is, in respect to the harmony of its 
parts, should have been made in the circumstances in 
which it was made, independently of divine inspiration. 

You have still further to account for the fact, that men 
living in a rude state of society, and many of them with 
the most limited advantages for intellectual cultivation, 
should have produced compositions, which, in sublimity 



36 

both of thought and language, leave far behind the finest 
models whether of ancient or modern times. The most 
perfect specimens of narrative which the world has seen, 
are found in the gospels ; but what was there in the labo- 
rious occupation of fishermen, that gave promise of these 
matchless performances ? If you deny that these per- 
sons wrote under divine inspiration,, whence the mighty 
difference between their productions, and what you could 
reasonably expect from persons in the same sphere of 
life, and with much better advantages of education, 
among ourselves ? 

You have also to account for the fact, that the Bible 
presents a higher standard of moral purity than is any 
where else to be found ; that all its doctrines and precepts, 
all its promises and threatenings, are worthy of an in- 
finitely holy God. Tell us, if this be imposture, how it 
has come to pass that wicked men — the enemies of holi- 
ness, have produced the holiest book that the world has 
ever seen. If they could have done this, where was the 
motive to influence them to it, so long as it was directly 
opposed to their corrupt views and purposes ? If they 
had desired to do it, would it not still, being conceived in 
sin, necessarily have borne, in a greater or less degree, 
the moral likeness of its authors ? 

And, finally, you have to account for the wonderful 
efficacy with which the Bible has been attended. Com- 
pare the combined moral effects which have been pro- 
duced by all the other books in the world, with those 
which have been produced by the Bible, and the former 
dwindle to nothing in the comparison. It is the Bible 
which is the means of accomplishing such wonderful 
transformations, as we sometimes see, of human charac- 
ter ; — making the proud, humble ; the vindictive, for- 
giving ; the cruel, tender-hearted ; causing the swearer to 
reverence the name of God ; the drunkard to lay aside his 
cups ; the dishonest man to give back his ill-gotten gains ; 
and the miser to open his coffers at the call of charity. 



It is the Bible which has shed the light of peace and hope 
around the path of adversity ; which has been a pillow 
for sickness, and a staff for old age ; which has caused the 
voice of rejoicing to rise even from the valley of death. 
It is the Bible which has demolished altars of cruelty and 
temples of idolatry ; which has illumined the wilderness 
with the light of civilisation, and for savage customs has 
substituted the soft charities of life ; which, as it travels 
round the globe, sends abroad a healing influence, and 
leaves a bright track of glory behind it. Whence is it, I 
ask, that the Bible produces these wonderful effects, if it 
has not God for its author ? How is it, if it be the work 
of man, that it has survived all the efforts which have 
been made for its destruction ; that, like the burning bush, 
it has been always on fire, and yet has never been con- 
sumed ? 

Such, my young friends, are some of the difficulties to 
be encountered, before you can, with any show of reason, 
reject the divine authority of the scriptures. You must 
be able to show that the miracles which the Bible records, 
either were never performed, or if they were, that they 
do not prove it to be a divine revelation ; that the pro- 
phecies which it contains, notwithstanding their literal and 
exact accomplishment, were only fortunate conjectures. 
You must be able to account for the fact that so many 
writers, on such a subject, and in such circumstances, 
have written with perfect harmony ; that men compara- 
tively destitute of intellectual culture, have written with 
such unparalleled sublimity ; that men of most corrupt 
minds, (for the idea of imposture necessarily supposes 
this,) have made a book which breathes the most elevated 
moral purity ; and finally that this Book, bearing the 
signature of Heaven upon its title-page, and thus affront- 
ing Jehovah by a lie, has gone abroad, changing the 
moral wilderness into a garden, and pouring light and joy 
into every bosom by which it has been welcomed. Until 
vou are able to account for these and many similar facts, 
D 



38 

you cannot, for a moment, consistently place your foot on 
infidel ground. How then ought you to estimate the 
cavils of infidelity ? As lighter than nothing, till you have 
deliberately and satisfactorily met all the difficulties which 
have now been suggested. 

2. Another error of which young people, at the present 
day, are in danger, is, that no atonement was necessary 
that God might pardon sin ; and that it was no part of 
the design of Christ's death to make an atonement. 

This error is, of course, held by all who reject the 
divine authority of the Bible : it is held also by many who 
profess, in some sense, to acknowledge its claims to in- 
spiration. The former class deny the necessity of an 
atonement ; but regarding the Bible as a mere human 
production, neither ask nor care whether it contains the 
doctrine or not. The latter class, in common with the 
former, assert that an atonement was not necessary ; but 
they go farther, and also assert that this doctrine is not 
found in the Bible. Before you receive this error, you 
ought to be able satisfactorily to answer the following 
inquiries. 

How could God grant an absolute pardon to the sinner y 
and yet maintain the dignity of his character and govern- 
ment ? The law which God has given to man as a rule 
of conduct, is perfectly holy, both in its requisitions and 
in its penalty. But man, by not obeying the requisitions 
of the law, has become obnoxious to its penalty. Sup- 
pose now that the great Lawgiver and Judge should remit 
the offence, without any expression of Ins displeasure 
against it ; in what attitude must he place himself, in 
view of the intelligent universe ? Would not the question 
be agitated in every part of the creation in which the fact 
was known — why an infinitely wise and holy God should 
make a law to be trampled upon with impunity ; and if it 
were fit that the law should be made, why it were not 
also fit that its honor should be maintained ? Is it an 



39 

expression of infinite holiness, to let sin go unpunished ? 
Is it an expression of infinite wisdom or benevolence, to 
connive at a spirit of rebellion in one part of the universe, 
and thus to hold out encouragement to the same spirit in 
every other part of it ? If these questions must be an- 
swered in the negative, then I ask, whether Reason her- 
self knows any other alternative, than that an atonement 
must be made, or the sinner must perish ? 

Again : If Jesus Christ did not die as an atoning sa- 
crifice, whence the connexion between the ancient sacrifices 
and the pardon of sin ? That such a connexion existed 
under the Mosaic dispensation, no person who reads the 
Bible can doubt ; victims were constantly offered under 
the name of sin-offerings, as an atonement for the sins of 
the people. That there is no natural connexion between 
the slaying of an animal, and the forgiveness of sin, is 
obvious ; and moreover, the apostle expressly declares 
that " the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away 
sin." Whence, then, did these sacrifices derive either 
their significance or their efficacy, if they are not to be 
considered as types of the great sacrifice of Christ ? 

Moreover : How will you reconcile it with infinite ids- 
dom, that God should have employed means so dispropor- 
tioned in their importance to the end which he designed to 
accomplish? If the object of Christ's death were to 
make atonement for sin, then here was an end to be an- 
swered of sufficient magnitude to warrant the most expen- 
sive means that could be employed. But if he lived 
merely as a teacher, and died merely as a martyr, whence 
the wonderful preparation that was made for his advent 
and his death ; and whence the wonderful interest which 
these events have excited, both on earth and in heaven ? 
Why this constant reference to the Messiah in all the 
rites of the ancient dispensation ? Why was he the 
burden of prophecy, during a period of four thousand 
years ? Why was his birth celebrated by the songs of 
angels, and his death signalized by the convulsions of 



40 

nature ? If his object had been merely to instruct the 
world, and to seal the truth of his testimony with his 
blood ; could not this object have been effected by some 
lower personage than him who was the Brightness of the 
Father's glory : and if this were so, whence the mighty 
difference between him and his apostles, which should 
invest his life and death with so much more importance 
than theirs ? Whence is it too that his death awakens so 
much wonder, and gratitude, and joy, in heaven ; that 
even the angels make it the theme of their high praises ; 
if, after all, no higher object was gained by it than to prove 
himself sincere in preaching an improved system of moral 
virtue ? I ask, again, whence this wonderful dispropor- 
tion between means and ends, which there actually is, if 
Jesus Christ did not die a vicarious sacrifice for the sins 
of the world ? 

And finally, under this article, what explanation will 
you give of the following passages of scripture, consistent 
with a rejection of the doctrine of atonement ? 

" Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sor- 
rows." " He was wounded for our transgressions ; he 
was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." 
M The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 
" Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemp- 
tion that is in Christ Jesus." " Whom God hath set 
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to 
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are 
past through the forbearance of God." " Even as the 
Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to mi- 
nister, and to give his life a ransom for many." " Who 
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 
u In whom we have redemption through his blood, the 
forgiveness of sins ; according to the riches of his grace." 
" Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with 
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish 
and without spot." " Unto Him that loved us, and 



41 

washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made 
us kings and priests unto God ; to Him be glory and 
dominion forever and ever, amen." 

These are some of the more prominent passages in 
which the design of Christ's death is exhibited : Which 
of them all, let me ask, even seem to teach, that he died 
merely, or chiefly, as a martyr to the truth of his doc- 
trines ? If the doctrine of atonement is not explicitly 
taught here, we ask for language in which it can be con- 
veyed intelligibly. 

3. Another error to which young people, at the present 
day, are exposed, is, that a spiritual renovation, or radical 
change of character, is not necessary to salvation. 

But what is implied in salvation ? Nothing less than 
being admitted to a participation of the joys of Heaven. 
But what is the character of heavenly joys ? They are 
perfectly holy : nothing that defileth can ever enter the 
kingdom. What sort of taste or disposition, then, must 
be necessary in order to relish or participate these joys ? 
Undoubtedly, a perfectly holy one ; for* the very idea of 
happiness includes in it a correspondence between the 
taste of the individual, and the objects or pursuits from 
which the happiness is derived. You might, for instance, 
bring the most delicious food before a man whose taste 
was vitiated by disease ; and though the food would be 
good in itself, and would be grateful to a healthy appetite, 
yet to the sick man it would only be an occasion of loath- 
ing. So also in reference to the joys of Heaven — though 
they are not only real, but far surpass in extent all our 
conceptions, yet, in order that they may become ours, 
we must possess a temper conformed to them- But does 
man, by nature, possess this temper ? Let every man's 
experience answer. Let the history of the world answer. 
Above all, let the word of God answer. " Every ima- 
gination of man's heart is evil from his youth." " The 
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. " 
D2 



42 

M They are altogether become filthy : there is none that 
doeth good, no not one." " The natural man discerneth 
not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolish- 
ness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they 
are spiritually discerned." If such be the natural cha- 
racter of man, and such the nature of heavenly joys, is it 
not manifest, even on principles of reason, that a radical 
change is necessary to the sinner, before he can be ad- 
mitted to Heaven ? 

Hear now the direct testimony of God on this subject. 
By the mouth of his prophet Ezekiel, he says : " A new 
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put 
within you : and I will take away the stony heart out of 
your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." " But 
as many as received him," says the apostle John, " to 
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to 
them that believe on his name : which were born, not of 
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 
but of God." Our Saviour himself declares, " Except a 
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
The apostle Paul having described the exceedingly de- 
praved character of the Corinthians previous to their con- 
version, says, in reference to the change they had expe- 
rienced : u But ye are washed, ye are justified, ye are 
sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
of our God." And again : " Not by works of righteous- 
ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he 
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing 
of the Holy Ghost." What meaning having the sem- 
blance of plausibility, can you attach to these passages, if 
you deny that they teach the necessity of a radical change 
wrought by the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit, 
in order to salvation ? 

4. The fourth and only remaining error which I shall 
here notice, is, that either no punishment, or only a limited 
one, awaits the wicked in a future world. 



43 

If you say that the wicked are not to be punished at all 
in a future state, you must maintain the position either 
on the ground that they will cease to sin at death, or else 
that the connexion between sin and misery will be dis- 
solved. Will you take the former ground, and say that 
the wicked at death are delivered from all sin ? But by 
what means is this accomplished ? Is it by death itself ? 
No ; for death is only a termination of the animal func- 
tions — a mere passage from one world to another : and 
surely there is nothing in this that can affect the moral 
state of the soul in any way. But do you say that it is 
by a divine influence, operating upon the soul in the ac- 
tion of death ? You say this without any warrant ; for 
the Bible has given no such intimation. But if it be so, 
this influence is either exerted in consistency with man's 
moral nature, or it is not. If it is thus exerted, then of 
course the sinner must be conscious, in some measure, of 
those moral exercises which precede and attend regenera- 
tion ; must be conscious of co-operating with the Spirit of 
God, both in conviction and conversion. But this surely 
is not true ; for, in a multitude of instances, the sinner 
dies in stupidity, or delirium, and sometimes in the act of 
challenging the vengeance of God. If you say that this 
influence is not exerted according to the laws of our moral 
nature, then, in respect to this point at least, you make 
man a mere machine : you have gone over to fatalism, 
and are not to be reasoned with. 

But do you choose the other side of the alternative, and 
take the ground that the connexion between sin and mi- 
sery will not exist after death ? But here again, as there 
is nothing in death to destroy the existence of sin in the 
soul, neither is there any thing in it to change its nature. 
It is part of the nature of sin to produce misery, just as 
truly as it belongs to the sun to impart light ; and though 
this tendency is not always manifest in the present life, 
yet it is only on account of the countervailing influences 
which grow out of our present condition. Just in pro- 



44 

portion as the sinner is removed from these influences 
even here, you see him reaping a harvest of wretched- 
ness. As he will be completely removed from them in a 
future world, what can prevent sin from having its legiti- 
mate operation in making him completely wretched ? 

But perhaps you admit that there is a degree of punish- 
ment in a future world, but maintain that it will be limit- 
ed in its duration. The idea that an immortal soul should 
be doomed to suffer inconceivable wo, during its whole 
existence, is so dreadful, that you shrink from the admis- 
sion of it. 

And what then ? Is that any reason why you should 
reject the plain testimony of God ? Let it be remembered 
that this is a case in respect to which the wishes of men 
have nothing to do. The grand question in relation to it 
is, not what you desire to be true, but what actually is 
true. The criminal on the scaffold no doubt wishes to 
see his sentence remitted ; but that wish has no influence 
to prevent the executioner from doing his office. Not 
more does the dread which is associated in your mind 
with the idea of eternal punishment, constitute any evi- 
dence against its reality. 

But you say, perhaps, that it would not consist with 
the benevolence of God to inflict eternal punishment for 
the sins committed in this short life. Let it be remem- 
bered that we are but miserable judges in this matter. Is 
it consistent with God's infinite benevolence to bury the 
ship, laden with human beings, in the mighty deep ; or 
to cause the earth to open, and swallow up thousands, 
whom we are accustomed to call innocent ? None but 
the atheist will deny this ; for such events actually do 
take place under his administration. By what super- 
human wisdom, then, are you enabled to decide that the 
eternal punishment of the sinner cannot consist with in- 
finite benevolence ? Whence have you gained that know- 
ledge of the exact influence of sin on God's moral uni- 
verse, which qualifies you to pronounce that its punish- 
ment must be limited, or his perfection must be sacrificed ? 



45 

But if the punishment of the sinner is hereafter to 
come to a termination, in what manner is this to be ef- 
fected ? Do you say that his sufferings will be discipli- 
nary; and that in consequence of their reforming and 
purifying influence, he will ere long be prepared for the 
happiness of heaven ? Here again, this is a gratuitous as- 
sumption — no such influence being attributed to the suffer- 
ings of the wicked in the word of God. But this notion 
is moreover contradicted by the analogy of experience. 
Would the parent, if he wished to reform an abandoned 
child, be likely to confine him constantly to the company of 
those who were equally or even more abandoned than him- 
self ? And is it not true in fact, that when the wicked in 
the present life have been doomed for their crimes by the 
sentence of human law, to confinement with those of a 
character similar to their own, they have generally come 
away monuments, not of the reforming, but of the cor- 
rupting and hardening influence of such kind of punish- 
ment ? Where then is the ground for believing that the 
wicked in a future world, by being associated with those 
who continually blaspheme God, and oppose the interests 
of his kingdom, will become conformed to his image, and 
acquire a relish for his service ? 

Admitting, however, this remedial tendency which you 
attribute to the sufferings of the sinner, you have yet an- 
other difficulty to surmount — it is to determine how the 
sinner can be delivered from punishment in consistency 
with the sentence of God's law. The only alternative 
that here presents itself is, either that he has actually 
suffered the full penalty of the law, and is released on 
the score of justice ; or else that his deliverance is ef- 
fected through the efficacy of Christ's atonement. But 
both sides of this alternative are mere assumptions — not 
warranted even by the semblance of scripture authority ; 
and as for reason, if she has any thing to say concerning 
them, it is certainly nothing in their favor. But against 
both these suppositions, as well as against that of the 



46 

disciplinary tendency of the sufferings of the wicked, 
there stands arrayed that ?nass of divine testimony, which 
exhibits the present world as the only w r orld of proba- 
tion, and the future as a world of unalterable retribution. 
" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," says Solomon, 
u do it with thy might ; for there is no w r ork, nor device, 
nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave" — the world of 
departed spirits — " whither thou goest." Says the pro- 
phet Isaiah, " They that go down into the grave, cannot 
hope for thy truth." " The night cometh," saith our 
Saviour, that is, the night of death, " in which no man 
can work." As there is to be no change in the charac- 
ter of man after he leaves this world, the scriptures teach 
that we shall be judged according to " the deeds done in 
the body ;" and rewarded " according to our works," 
performed on this side the grave. It is clear then that 
the Bible has decided that, neither on the ground of jus- 
tice, nor on the ground of mercy, will the punishment of 
the sinner be remitted, after he has become an inhabitant 
of the eternal world. 

But there are many other passages of scripture, in 
which the doctrine of eternal punishment is not only im- 
plied, but explicitly declared. The prophet Isaiah, filled 
with the most awful impressions of the future state of 
the wicked, exclaims, " Who can inhabit everlasting 
burnings ?" Our blessed Lord himself, speaking of the 
wicked, says, " These shall go away into everlasting 
punishment." Paul says concerning those who obey 
not the gospel, that "they shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
the glory of his power." And John, in the Revelation, 
declares concerning the inhabitants of the bottomless pit, 
that " the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever 
and ever" 

But you will say, perhaps, that the words " everlast- 
ing," " eternal," " for ever and ever," &c do not neces- 
sarily imply unlimited duration, as they are sometimes 



47 

used in scripture in reference to objects whose duration 
is acknowledged to be limited. To this I reply that, 
whatever this language may denote in certain cases, the 
manner in which it is used as descriptive of the punish- 
ment of the wicked, precludes the idea of limited dura- 
tion ; for the same language which expresses the duration 
of the miseries of the wicked, is employed in the very 
same connexion, to express that of the happiness of the 
righteous ; which all acknowledge to be unlimited. — 
u Some shall arise to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt." " And these shall go away 
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life 
eternal" — or " everlasting life ;" the same Greek word 
being used in the latter case as in the former. Here 
then is an example of the strongest expressions to be 
found in the Greek and Hebrew languages, being used 
by the Spirit of God, and in circumstances in no way 
liable to exception, to describe the duration of future 
punishment. The only alternative which these passages 
suggest is, either that the miseries of the wicked will be 
strictly eternal, or else that the happiness of the righteous 
will be limited. 

If, however, after all, you choose not to admit the pas- 
sages already quoted as decisive on this point, there are 
others not liable to the criticism to which I have referred, 
and which undoubtedly convey the idea of unlimited dura- 
tion, if it can be conveyed by human language. Such are 
the following : " Their worm dieth not, and their fire is 
not quenched." " They shall never see life." " They 
shall never enter into rest." " It were good for that 
man if he had never been born." Surely it would have 
been better for Judas to have been born, if, after suffering 
millions of ages, he should finally begin an endless ca- 
reer of happiness and glory. 

There is yet another test to which the doctrine which 
1 am considering may very properly be referred. I mean 
its moral tendency : for it requires no argument to prove 



48 

that that doctrine which removes any of the restraints to 
sinful indulgence, cannot have God for its author. 

Now then I inquire, if there be no punishment, or only 
a temporary punishment, for the wicked, in a future 
world — in other words, if virtue and vice are ultimately 
to find the same level, — I inquire what there is to keep a 
wicked man from any deeds of iniquity to which his in* 
clinations may prompt him, provided only he can escape 
the eye and the arm of human law. The wretch whose 
ruling passion is the love of gold, casts his eye covetously 
upon your possessions ; but they are so guarded that he 
cannot reach them without shedding your blood : what 
hinders then, if death be the gate of glory to all, but 
that, when he has once satisfied himself that he can es- 
cape detection, he should draw his dagger and stab you 
in the dark ? Nor is the penalty of human law, upon 
his principle, greatly to be dreaded, or even dreaded at 
all ; for it is only anticipating a little, a momentary pang, 
which is after all the harbinger of eternal joy. Is it not 
then manifestly the tendency of this doctrine, to throw 
open the flood-gates of iniquity, and to license to the ut- 
most, every corrupt propensity of the heart ? 

You perceive then, my young friends, that you have 
most serious difficulties to encounter from reason, scrip- 
ture, and experience, before you can adopt either scheme 
of universal salvation. Be not so unwise as to yield to 
the dictates of mere feeling on this subject. It is a mat- 
ter, I repeat, to be decided, not by the wishes of men, 
but by the testimony of God. To this then, as the ulti- 
mate source of evidence, be your appeal ; and if the 
doctrine is taught here, that the punishment of the 
wicked will be eternal, remember that heaven and earth 
shall sooner pass away, than one jot or tittle of what Je- 
hovah has threatened shall fail of being accomplished. 

II. I have now completed the examination which I 
designed, of some of the more common errors to which 



49 

young people, at the present day, are exposed : I pro- 
ceed, secondly, to suggest some considerations with 

A VIEW TO DISSUADE YOU FROM BEING FOUND IN THE WAY 

of evil instruction. The wise man, in the iext^ 
cautions the young, not merely to avoid giving heed to 
the instruction of the wicked, but to avoid even hearing 
it. " Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that cau- 
seth to err from the words of knowledge." The idea 
clearly is, that you are not to allow yourselves, in any 
way, to be familiar with corrupt sentiments ; neither by 
reading bad books, nor by listening to the preaching or 
conversation of bad men. 

I. The first consideration which I shall offer, as a 
reason why you should not be found in the way of evil 
instruction, is, that there is great danger that you will 
embrace the errors with which you thus become acquainted* 

This danger results partly from the fact that men natu- 
rally love darkness rather than light. Of this fact the 
history of the world furnishes abundant proof; else how 
will you account for it, not only that men in all ages 
have misinterpreted the voice of God speaking to them 
in his works and ways, and that they have worshipped 
every thing as God but Jehovah himself, but also that 
so many have shut their eyes against the broad light of 
revelation, and have either denied its divine authority, or 
else perverted it to sanction the most gross and fatal 
errors. Taking for granted then this fact, it amounts to 
nothing less than a predisposition in the human heart to 
the reception of error. Suppose your bodily system 
was exactly predisposed to some contagious disease, 
would not that fact greatly increase your danger, on be- 
ing brought into contact with the elements of infection ? 
Or suppose an individual had a strong thirst for intoxi- 
cating liquors, would not this invest with additional dan- 
ger all opportunities for indulging in the use of them ? 
Is it not equally manifest that that natural aversion to 
E 



50 

the reception of God's truth, of which I have spoken, 
must be peculiarly favorable to the influence of evil in- 
struction ? 

But this danger farther arises from the love of novelty , 
and the pride of opinion. There is something exceed- 
ingly grateful to many youthful minds, in the reflection 
that they have turned off from the beaten track ; — that 
they have escaped from vulgar prejudices, and broken 
away from the trammels of education, and that they are 
giving the world a fine example of independent thought. 
But this spirit finds but little aliment in the way of truth ; 
for that is a highway, and the simple and unlettered walk 
in it ; and the way to be distinguished from the vulgar 
herd, is to leave this plain path, and broach some wild 
or wicked speculation. More or less of this spirit no 
doubt belongs to human nature ; and though you may 
not hitherto have been sensible of its operation, yet if 
you venture into the way of evil instruction, there is 
great danger that you will find, not only that this spirit 
exists, but that it exerts a powerful influence in opening 
your mind to the reception of error. 

Moreover, you are in danger of embracing the errors 
which you accustom yourselves to hear defended, from 
the fact that familiarity with error, as with vice, has a 
tendency to make you insensible of its deformity. This 
tendency results partly from the power of habit, and 
partly from the deceitful nature of sin ; and it exists 
universally ; though it must be acknowledged that it is 
often counteracted by the influence of circumstances. 
The process by which it discovers itself, needs only to 
be described, to be recognized by every one as a reality. 
The youth who has been educated to reverence the bible 
as God's word, when he first hears it assailed by infidel 
cavils and scoffs, shudders at the impiety, and perhaps 
wonders that God suffers such a wretch to live. He 
hears the same thing the second time, but with less hor- 
ror than before. He hears it again and again, and at 



51 

length ceases to be affected by the impiety. At no dis- 
tant period, he gathers bravery enough to smile at what 
once made him tremble ; to assent to that, which once 
drew from him expressions of abhorrence. At a more 
remote point in the process, he cordially takes the infidel 
by the hand, and greets him as a brother ; thus, perhaps, 
in a little period, having travelled the whole distance 
from a firm belief to a total rejection of the bible. Say, 
my young friends, whether all this is not perfectly na- 
tural ; and easily accounted for on the principle that 
familiarity with error blinds the mind to its inherent 
odiousness. Venture not then in the way of evil in- 
struction, lest, through the operation of the same prin- 
ciple, you should be the subjects of the same disastrous 
change. 

Another consideration which renders it probable that 
you will embrace the errors which you hear defended, 
is, that, from your age and inexperience, you cannot be 
supposed to be properly furnished for an encounter with 
error. The man who, when properly armed, might 
stand his ground against a company of ruffians, would, 
if stripped of his armor, fall into their hands at the 
first onset. In like manner, the man who has been 
long accustomed to study his bible, might find little diffi- 
culty, and be in little danger, in meeting the cavils of the 
enemies of truth ; while he who is comparatively unac- 
quainted with the word of God, might be easily entan- 
gled, and drawn away by their sophistry. Taking it for 
granted then that you have not that deep and thorough 
knowledge of the bible which might more naturally be 
looked for in advanced life, you cannot but perceive that 
you are in great danger, from this circumstance, of re- 
ceiving the errors which are defended in your hearing. 
Cavils which might be satisfactorily answered in many 
ways, and the fallacy of which a more thorough know- 
ledge of the word of God might enable you instantly to 
detect, assume, from your ignorance, the weight of ar- 



52 
gnments ; and there is danger that you will soon come to 
conclude that what you cannot answer, is unanswerable. 
But the consideration which crowns the evidence of 
your danger on this subject, is, that multitudes of youth, 
from hearing evil instruction, actually have embraced the 
errors with which they have thus been made familiar. Yes, 
I could point you to many a young person, who thought 
himself safe when he ventured on this forbidden ground, 
and felt confident that his belief of the truth was never 
to be shaken, who can now speak boldly in defence of 
the most dangerous errors, and even pour contempt on 
the revelation of God. Tell me, my young friends, 
what there is in your circumstances which promises that 
the same experiment will result more favorably in respect 
to you. Rely on it, that ground which your curiosity 
may tempt you to explore, is beset with snares ; if you 
venture among them, take heed lest they prove to you 
the snares of death. 

2. Guard against being found in the way of evil in- 
struction, because there is great danger that you will not 
only by this means embrace error, but that you will re- 
tain it till the close of life. 

There are two principles which will operate power- 
fully towards such a result. The first is, the pride of 
consistency. The circumstances in which the error is 
supposed to be embraced, are exceedingly well fitted to 
bring this principle into action. You have become an 
errorist under the teaching of wicked men, who have 
watched you in every step of your progress, who have 
triumphed in their success, and have congratulated you 
on being set free from puritanical prejudices. In your 
intercourse with them and with others, you have pro- 
bably gloried in your opposition to the truth ; for it usu- 
ally happens that the truth finds its bitterest enemies in 
the ranks of apostacy. How difficult then must it be to 
come down from this hidi stand which you have taken, 



53 

into the dust ; to acknowledge, after all your confident 
boasting, that you have been left to believe a lie ! How 
hard to bear the taunting accusation of fickleness or hy- 
pocrisy ; to be assailed by the hiss of contempt, instead 
of being greeted with the smile of approbation ! If you 
have embraced error in the circumstances to which I 
have referred, is not here a powerful consideration to 
prevent you from abandoning it ? Even if doubts should 
sometimes force themselves upon you, is it not probable 
that this pride of consistency — this fear of the world's 
dread laugh, would lead you to shake them off as soon 
as possible ? 

The other principle to which I referred as likely to 
operate in preventing you from abandoning your errors, 
when they are once adopted, is a regard to present com- 
fort. No matter from what consideration you may have 
been induced to receive them — when once received, they 
will of course exert an influence to quiet the conscience, 
and thus minister to a life of sin. The man who specu- 
latively believes the great truths of the Bible, has but 
little to defend him against the arrows of conviction 
When the threatenings of God are thundered in his ears, 
conscience is exceedingly apt to take advantage of his 
belief, to stir up tumult and agony in his heart. But the 
man who has embraced any fundamental error, carries a 
shield upon his conscience, which the sharpest arrows 
from the quiver of the Almighty can scarcely penetrate. 
He is at ease under the preaching of the word, under the 
warnings of Providence, in revivals of religion, and is 
even mighty to oppose the operations of God's Holy Spi- 
rit : but take from him his system of error, and you strip 
him of the armor in which he trusted ; you leave him 
as liable to the terrors of conviction, as other men. But 
in every human bosom there is a natural dread of misery ; 
especially in the bosom of the sinner, a dread of finding 
himself exposed to the wrath of God. How probable 
is it then, on this ground, that if you have once yielded 
E 2 



54 

to the influence of error, you will never abandon it. It 
produces a feeling of safety which you love to cherish ; 
whereas the parting with it must be the signal for a pain- 
ful sense of exposure to the most awful calamities. 

I have said that there is a probability that a system of 
error once adopted will be retained till the close of life : 
perhaps I ought rather to say till near the close ; — for 
experience proves that the approach of death has a 
mighty influence to break up these delusions. Cases 
indeed occur, in which the soul clings to them to the 
last, and even with apparent triumph ; but the instances 
are far more numerous, in which the most honest con- 
fessions, and the most gloomy forebodings, pronounce 
these systems of error to be refuges of lies. But this 
conviction is often — perhaps usually, nothing more than 
the conviction of despair. The soul, just in the act of 
making its change — though it may abandon the error, is 
not in a condition to escape from its influence ; and hence 
it may be said in the most important and practical sense, 
that those by whom error is once received, will probably 
carry it with them to the gates of eternity. 

3. Guard against being found in the way of evil in- 
struction, because the errors to which you are thus ex- 
posed, if adopted, and retained till the close of life, must 
be fatal to your souls. I here refer particularly to those 
errors which have been examined in the former part of 
this discourse, though they are by no means the only 
ones of fatal tendency. 

Let it be remembered that these errors are, in the high- 
est degree, practical. There are many false notions, and 
even in respect to religion, which may be held with little 
or no hazard ; because they are at best mere matters of 
speculation, and do not involve any great point of duty 
or interest. But it is otherwise in respect to those which 
we have been considering : they contemplate man in his 
relations to God and eternity ; and involve interests too 



55 

momentous for the human mind adequately to estimate, 
I know there are those who will have it, that nothing 
is practical in religion, but what relates to external mo- 
rality and to the present life ; but surely those are the 
most practical truths, in the only proper sense of that 
word, which are fitted to exert the greatest influence in 
preparing men for heaven ; and those the most practical 
errors, which minister most directly and effectually to the 
soul's everlasting destruction. 

But the fatal influence of the errors of which I have 
spoken, is more directly manifest in the fact, that they 
either sweep away the only foundation of the sinners 
hope, or else they effectually prevent a compliance with 
the terms on which salvation is offered. If you believe 
that the Bible is not the word of God, then you set at 
nought all that God has done for your salvation, and 
fairly bring yourself under the sentence, " He that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned." If you believe that Jesus 
Christ has made no atonement for sin, it were absurd to 
sujDpose that you should ever rest your soul's everlasting 
interests on his atonement ; and yet this is the only 
sure foundation. If you believe neither the reality nor 
the necessity of a renovation of heart by the Holy Spirit, 
what motive will you have to seek it ? But Jesus him- 
self has declared, " Except a man be born again, he can- 
not see the kingdom of God." And finally, if you be- 
lieve that there is to be no punishment, or only a limited 
punishment, of the wicked in a future world, what in- 
fluence will this belief be likely to exert, other than that 
to which I have already referred ; that of quieting your 
fears, and encouraging you to walk the downward road ? 
I do not say that it is not possible but that the tendency 
of this latter doctrine may, in individual instances, be 
counteracted ; but we may safely say that, if such in- 
stances exist, they are exceedingly rare ; and that this 
error has generally a most direct and visible influence in 
carrying the soul down to perdition. 



56 

And is it so, my young friends, that the errors to 
which you are exposed are fraught with such amazing 
danger ? Is it so, that every effort made to corrupt your 
principles, is an effort to destroy your souls ? Then 
venture not into the way of evil instruction. Regard 
with more horror the man who would shake your belief 
in the truths of religion, than the assassin who waits to 
plunge a dagger into your heart. The one aims only at 
the death of the body, which must die soon in the course 
of nature : the other aims at the death of the soul ; — a 
death fraught with everlasting agony. If you are 
tempted to place yourself, even for an hour, in the way 
of hearing the truths of the bible ridiculed or opposed, 
yield not to the temptation, unless you have made up 
your mind to encounter the agonies of the lost. 

And now what remains but that I exhort you to 
value and love the Bible ? Be not satisfied with a 
vague and inoperative assent to its authority or its doc- 
trines ; but let your belief in both be intelligent and in- 
fluential. Study it daily with diligence and prayer - 
Endeavor not only to become familiar with its truths, 
but to become imbued with its spirit. Bind it about 
your heart, as the richest treasure that God has ever 
given to mortals. In this way, you will early become 
fortified against the influence of evil instruction ; will 
have a sure guide amidst difficulties, a substantial solace 
in sorrow, an unfailing refuge in death. Give me the 
directions which the bible furnishes, and I will ask for 
no other guide amidst the devious paths of human life. 
Give me the consolations which the bible yields, and I 
will ask for no other staff to support me when I go 
down into the dark valley. 



LECTURE IV. 

DANGER OF A LIFE OF PLEASURE 



ECCLESIASTES XI. 9. 

REJOICE, O YOUNG MAIT, IN THY YOUTH ; AND LET THY HEART 
CHEER THEE IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH ; AND WALK IN 
THE WAYS OF THINE HEART, AND IN THE SIGHT OF THINE 
EYES : BUT KNOW THOU, THAT FOR ALL THESE THINGS, GOD 
WILL BRING THEE INTO JUDGMENT. 

A more cutting and awful piece of irony than is con- 
tained in this passage, is, perhaps, not to be found, either 
in or out of the sacred volume. The wise man, in the 
first part of the verse, assumes the character of a gay and 
thoughtless libertine ; and in the true spirit of a libertine, 
counsels the youth whom he is addressing, to give him- 
self up to an unrestrained course of amusement and dis- 
sipation. He bids him abandon all serious thoughts of 
God, and eternity, and religion. He welcomes him to 
the joys of an irreligious and profligate life ; and gives 
him all the liberty which any sensualist could desire. 
Having so far represented the wicked seducer and de- 
stroyer of the young, he suddenly lays aside his assumed 
character, and with all the solemnity of a preacher from 
the world of spirits, closes the verse, in a style of the most 
impressive admonition. The same young person, whom 
he had just before pointed into the path of forbidden plea- 
sure, he now points to the judgment seat of Christ : and 



58 

alludes, with awful emphasis, to that tremendous reckon- 
ing, which must succeed such a life as he had recom- 
mended. " Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ; and 
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth ; and 
walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine 
eyes : but know thou, that for all these things, God will 
bring thee into judgment." 

Our subject, at once, lays itself before you. In the 
first part of the text, there is the ironical invitation 
to partake of sinful pleasure : in the latter part, the so- 
lemn admonition to remember the judgment. Let us 
endeavor, so far as we can, to enter into the spirit of both 
parts of the passage. 

" Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ; and let thy 
heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth ; and walk in 
the ways of thine heart, and the sight of thine eyes :"— 
almost the very language by which many youth at the 
present day are tempted into the path of forbidden plea- 
sure. Coming from the lips of the sensualist, it is no 
irony ; it is the honest language of his heart ; and he 
rejoices when it is listened to and obeyed. 

Hear the sentiment contained in these words, a little 
expanded : — " You are now in the morning of life — the 
season most free from worldly care, and most adapted to 
worldly pleasure. However it may be with middle life, 
or old age, when the vigor of the body is spent, or the 
animal spirits have grown cool, this is not the time for 
religion. You were made to enjoy life ; but religion is 
only a course of mortification and penance ; it is the bond- 
age both of soul and body — the grave of all that is bright 
and goodly in the lot of man. Resist, then, the claims of 
religion, at least for the present. If you should think it 
meet to beckon her to you in your last hour, as a com- 
panion through the dark valley, be it so ; but while these 
years of youthful buoyancy are passing off, make no league 
with this damper of human joy. Come with us into 
these scenes of mirth and revelry, in which reflection is 



59 

drowned, and restraint is not known ; and here let your 
heart be surfeited with pleasure. What if, after having 
devoted hours to amusement, the thought should occur to 
you, w T hile in the solitude of your chamber, that all that 
you had enjoyed was vanity ? Endeavor to convince 
yourself of the contrary, by thinking how happy you were 
while you were listening to the festive song, or while you 
were dancing to the sound of the viol. What if the open 
grave of some beloved friend should bring into your mind 
the gloomy thought of dying ? Banish it as an intruder 
upon the joys of life ; and think how useless it is to trouble 
yourself about what is inevitable. What if the thought 
should occur to you, while at the gaming table, or in 
scenes of profane and boisterous riot, that you have be- 
loved friends who would weep blood, if they should know 
where you are, and how you are engaged ? But what 
right have friends to abridge your pleasure, so long as you 
are willing that they should judge what is best for them- 
selves, and you attempt no interference with their plans 
for enjoyment ? In a word, let it be your grand object to 
drink as deeply at the fountain of w r orldly pleasure, as you 
can ; and as the hours of this golden season whirl off, let 
there be no inquiry agitated in your breast more gloomy, 
than how you shall crowd into each hour the largest 
amount of careless gaiety or sensual indulgence." 

But, my young friends, I dare not proceed farther in 
this strain of irony, which is suggested by my text, lest 
some of you should forget that it is irony, and should 
begin to think that you have found an advocate for your 
youthful vanities. I pass therefore immediately to the 
other part of the subject, in which I am to enforce the 
awful warning contained in the closing part of the text. 
u But know thou, that for all these things, God will bring 
thee into judgment." What an awful contrast is here 
presented to the language of the libertine, to which we 
have just been attending ! 



60 

Reflect on the certainty of your being brought into 
judgment. " Know thou," says the wise man ; that is, 
u be assured that the fact of which I speak, shall take 
place, without the possibility of failure." God has not 
left himself without witness on this subject, either in the 
constitution of our nature, or in the dispensations of his 
providence. The doctrine of a future judgment is written 
more or less legibly on the conscience of every man $ 
else, how will you account for that painful restlessness 
which attends the remembrance of crimes long since com- 
mitted, and the record of which is kept only in the per- 
petrator's own bosom ? Moreover, the unequal distribu- 
tion of rewards and punishments in the present life, in 
connexion with the immutable justice of God, seems to 
constitute a ground of necessity for a future retribution ; 
for in what other way shall the divine character be vin- 
dicated from the charge of partiality ? But if reason has 
not spoken with sufficient distinctness on this subject, you 
cannot say that of the lively oracles ; for here the doc- 
trine stands written with God's own finger in letters of 
light. The text is decisive on this subject : — " For all 
these things, God will bring thee into judgment." And 
again : " God shall bring every work into judgment, with 
every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be 
evil." And again: "We must all appear before the 
judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the 
things done in his body, according to that he hath done, 
whether it be good or bad." 

The evidence that you are to be brought into judgment, 
then, is complete. Whether you take counsel of reason, 
or hold communion with conscience, or open the volume 
of God's truth, this evidence glares upon you. Forget it 
you may ; trifle with it you may ; but the awful fact you 
cannot change. I charge you then to remember, wherever 
you go, or whatever you do, that there is a tremendous 
reckoning before you. Go, if you dare, into the haunts 
of irreligious mirth, and hear God's name profaned, and 



61 

join in heaping scandal upon the cross ; go and hear the 
scoffer ask, " Where is the promise of his coming ?" and 
let your heart overflow with sensual joy : but remember 
that other scenes await you ; remember that it has gone 
out of the mouth of Him who is " the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever," that you are yet to be brought into 
judgment. 

Contemplate the purpose for which you are to be 
brought into judgment : — " For all these things," says 
the wise man ; that is, the things specified in the pre- 
ceding part of the verse — giving yourself up to a life of 
vanity and pleasure. You will be brought into judgment 
for the waste of your time ; for every hour and moment 
which shall have been devoted to other purposes than 
those for which your time was given you. You will be 
brought into judgment for all your profane and idle dis- 
course, which was fitted at once to affront }^our Maker, 
and to pollute your own mind, and close it against serious 
reflection. You will be brought into judgment for every 
scene of vain amusement ; for every meeting for sensual 
excess ; for every effort to stifle conscience and forget 
God. You will be brought into judgment for all that you 
have done in corrupting others ; for the deadly poison 
which has distilled from your lips, and from your exam- 
ple, operating like the blast of death, wherever it has been 
communicated ; for that fearful amount of sin and wretch- 
edness which will have resulted from the accumulating 
influence of your life on many successive generations. 
In a word, for all that belongs to a life of pleasure, whe- 
ther it respect action or enjoyment, its more immediate or 
more remote influences, you will be brought into judg- 
ment. 

How differently will a life of sinful pleasure appear to 
you, when you come to view it in the light of the judg- 
ment, from what it does now, while your heart cheers 
you in the days of your youth ! What you here plead for 
as innocent, will then be seen to have involved crimson 
F 



62 
guilt. What you here regard as fraught with no danger, 
will there be felt to have contained the elements of a 
heavy curse. What you here treat with levity as though 
it were a dream or a fable, will there gather all the im- 
portance that belongs to an appalling reality. How will 
your heart sicken, and your spirit die within you, when 
the light of eternity reveals your mistake in respect to the 
object of the present life ! With what emotions will you 
realize that the period which you have spent in trifling, 
was the only period given you to escape hell and to ob- 
tain heaven ! 

Consider, farther, by whom you are to be brought into 
judgment. The text asserts that " God will bring thee 
into judgment ;" — God, from whom came all the bless- 
ings which you have perverted to purposes of sinful plea- 
sure ; and against whom every sin that you have com- 
mitted, has been an act of rebellion : — God, whose heart- 
searching eye has always been intent upon you, noticing 
the birth, and progress, and accomplishment of every 
sinful purpose ; who has been with you when you sup- 
posed yourself alone ; and who has kept an exact record 
of all that you have thought, and spoken, and done, from 
the first moment of your existence : — God, who, though 
long-suffering and gracious, is yet just and holy, and will 
by no means clear the guilty ; who has all the means of 
punishment in the universe at his command, and can 
execute with infinite ease the penalty which his righteous 
authority ordains. And is this the great and awful Being, 
who is to bring you into judgment ? Say, whether it will 
not be a fearful thing to fall into the hands of such a 
Judge ? 

Were your final retribution to be decided by a mere 
man, or a mere creature, you might suppose it possible 
that you should escape the woes which hang over your 
eternal destiny. You might hope something from his 
limited knowledge. Possibly he might not be acquainted 
with all your transgressions in all their aggravating cir- 



63 

cumstances ; or he might form too low an estimate of the 
punishment which you deserve on account of them. Or 
you might hope something from his limited power. You 
mio*ht imagine that by some combination of energy or 
influence which could be formed, you might either resist 
the mandate which should summon you to judgment, or 
prevent the execution of the final sentence . Or you might 
presume upon the triumph of mercy over justice. You 
might hope that some appeal could be made to the heart 
of the Judge, which should lead him at least to abate the 
severity of your doom ; even though such mitigation 
should tarnish his character, and weaken his government. 
But surely you can form no such imaginations in respect 
to the infinite God. You cannot hope to evade the scru- 
tiny of his eye, or to resist the might of his arm, or to 
awaken a blind and indiscriminate compassion in his heart. 
What though you may be courageous on every other 
occasion, yet can your heart endure, or your hands be 
strong, when you shall stand before the throne of Almighty 
power, beneath the searching look of Omniscience, to 
receive a just recompense for a life wasted in sinful plea- 
sure ? 

Meditate on the time of your being brought into judg- 
ment. It would seem that the day of judgment, appro- 
priately so called — the day which is to make a full reve- 
lation of the secrets of every heart, and to pour the light 
of a complete vindication over the character of God — is 
yet comparatively distant. There are purposes to be 
accomplished in the scheme of providence, preparatory to 
that august occasion, which may require the lapse of ages. 
Nevertheless, there is an important sense in which it may 
be said that the judgment is near. The world into which 
the soul passes at death, is a world of retribution. 
Whatever means God intends ever to employ to bring the 
sinner to repentance, have been employed previous to that 
period : the first gleam of light from the eternal world 
reveals to the soul its destiny, which, though not yet 



64 

published to the universe, is fixed by a decree which the 
whole creation could not change ; and whatever the soul 
experiences, whether of joy or of wo, subsequently to 
that period, belongs to its everlasting retribution ? 

Dream not, then, my young friend, that the period of 
your being brought into judgment is remote. Will you 
presume upon youth as a security against it ? So did 
that young man, who, the other day, was hurried into 
eternity, in the fulness of youthful vigor, and the bloom 
of youthful hope. Will you presume upon health as a 
security against it ? Go, then, and read a lesson from 
yonder tomb-stone ; and there you will find that a pro- 
tracted sickness, and a lingering death-scene, are not the 
necessary accompaniments of dissolution : you will find 
that death may overtake you, w T hile your hands are strung 
with vigor ; and that your passage through the dark 
valley may be the passage of a moment. Or do you 
presume on promising worldly prospects ? I could point 
you to many a father who would tell you weeping, that 
he once had a son whose prospects were, in every respect, 
as bright as yours ; but that death had marked him as 
his victim, and he had sunk into an early grave. Where, 
then, I ask, is your security against being early brought 
into judgment ? When you go into a scene of amuse- 
ment, how do you know but that the summons may meet 
you there ? When you mingle in the midnight revel, can 
you be certain that you are not passing the last hour of 
your probation ? When you lay your head upon your 
pillow, without lifting your heart to God, who has given 
you the assurance that that is not the night in which your 
soul is to be required of you ; that a voice from eternity 
may not break upon your ear amidst the stillness of mid- 
night, calling you to judgment ? But be it so that you 
should fill up threescore years and ten, it would still re- 
main true that you are on the threshold of the judgment. 
That period — long as it may now seem to you — is but as 
a hand's-breadth ; while you are dreaming of its conti- 



65 

nuance, it will be spent, and your spirit will be rushing 
forth to meet its God. And is it so, that the judgment is 
not only a reality, but that its amazing scenes are so soon 
to burst upon you ? Tell me, then, O immortal soul, 
what account you are prepared to render of that wasted, 
perverted life, when you enter the invisible world, and 
stand before the dread tribunal ? 

Contemplate, moreover, the circumstances of your be- 
ing brought into judgment. If you consider this expres- 
sion as referring to the removal of the soul by death to a 
state of retribution, then the circumstances of this event 
must, in a great measure, remain concealed, till they are 
disclosed to you in experience. In respect to some of 
them, however, you may form at least a probable opi- 
nion. By the power of a burning fever, or the gradual 
inroads of consumption, or perhaps by some more myste- 
rious form of disease, you may expect ere long to be laid 
upon the bed of death. It may be that, in that awful 
hour, you may be given up to delirium or insensibility, 
and may close your eyes upon the objects of sense without 
knowing where you are, or through what scenes you are 
passing. Or it may be that your rational powers will be 
active and bright, so that you will be conscious of all that 
happens to you in your passage through the dark valley. 
You may see around you beloved friends, who will alter- 
nately fasten upon you a look of mingled affection and 
agony, and turn away to smother the sobs which rise 
from a bursting heart. You may be sensible that the 
cold damps of death are already hanging upon your coun- 
tenance ; that the vital current is performing its last pas- 
sage through your heart ; that you are undergoing the 
convulsive struggle which is to dislodge the spirit from 
its clayey tabernacle. And supposing that your life has 
been devoted to sinful pleasure, how probable is it that 
conscience will pour its accusations into your ears, and 
tell you of an offended Judge, and of coming wrath, and 
of interminable wo ! How probable that the ghosts of 
F2 



wasted hours, and days, and years, will come up in fright- 
ful succession before you, as ministers of wrath, when 
you need so much to be attended by angels of consola- 
tion ! Amidst some such assemblage of gloomy circum- 
stances as I have now supposed, you may expect that 
your spirit will take its flight for the eternal world. And 
while your body is dressing for the grave, that spirit will 
be mingling in scenes of new and awful interest ; and 
though it will have done with the agony attendant on the 
dissolution of the body, it will be convulsed by an agony 
far more dreadful — the beginning of a never-dying death. 
Oh what a moment will that be, when you shall first 
know by experience the misery of the lost ! 

But if you consider the text as referring immediately 
to the great day of final decision, the circumstances which 
will attend your being brought into judgment, will be of 
a far different character from those which we have just 
described ; and while, in the former case, we learn them 
principally from observation, in the latter, we derive our 
knowledge solely from the oracles of God. At the hour 
next previous to that in which the immediate preparation 
for the judgment shall commence, your body, dissolved 
into its original elements, will be slumbering with its kin- 
dred dust ; and your spirit will be mingling with other 
lost spirits in the region of despair. Suddenly the skies 
will send forth a sound — it will be a blast of the trump of 
God, which will echo from one end of the earth to the 
other, bursting open the doors of every sepulchre, break- 
ing up the slumbers of all their inhabitants, and re-col- 
lecting from the earth, the ocean, the air, the scattered 
dust of every child of Adam that shall have died since 
the creation. The union between body and spirit is re- 
stored — the same body that was laid in the dust, rises up 
to meet the same spirit which had animated it. The 
Judge descends from heaven, in the glory of his Father, 
and with all his holy angels ; and around his throne are 
assembled all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and 



67 

people. The righteous are placed in open, distinguished 
honor, at his right hand ; the wicked, as a public proof 
of his indignation against their character, are summoned 
to the left. In this latter class, you, who have been de- 
voted to sinful pleasure, will be found. There you will 
be obliged to contemplate the picture of your life, drawn 
only in black, without one bright stroke to relieve the 
eye from a uniform and sickening gloom. There you 
will be obliged, with all others who have been u lovers of 
pleasure more than lovers of God," to hear the appalling 
sentence, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels." Oh, when that 
piercing sound shall enter into your ear, will it not rend 
your heart with agony, and open your lips in wailing ? 
For " who can stand before his indignation ? And who 
can abide in the fierceness of his anger ?" 

Meditate, finally, on the consequences of your being 
brought into judgment. The consequence of your being 
summoned by death into a world of retribution, will be 
an entire separation from all the objects of sense, from 
all the means of grace, from all the hopes of salvation. 
You will remember, indeed, how you once mingled in 
scenes of unhallowed mirth and revelry ; but with the 
remembrance of these scenes will be associated the re- 
flection that they have gone by for ever ; while the effect 
of them remains to be felt in an interminable scene of 
anguish. You will think of sabbaths given you to pre- 
pare for heaven, but perverted to purposes cf mere 
amusement : of invitations and warnings a thousand 
times pressed upon you, but as often treated with indif- 
ference or contempt ; of friends who had come with the 
tenderest concern to speak to you of the things that be- 
longed to your peace, but who returned to their closets 
mourning that they could gain no access to your heart. 
But you will be obliged also to reflect that there are no 
more sabbaths for you ; that the last invitation of mercy, 
the last warning to repent, has died away upon your ear ; 



68 

that no christian friend can come where you are, to un- 
burden a full heart in prayers, and tears, and expostula- 
tions, for the salvation of your soul. You may remem- 
ber too, how, in all your mad pursuit of pleasure, you 
still clung to the hope of future repentance : but the de- 
lusion is broken up ; even the atoning blood of Jesus can 
now no longer reach you. And while you are an exile 
from all the good, real or imaginary, which you once en- 
joyed, you will be subject to the corrosion of a guilty 
conscience, will be a companion of fiends and reprobates, 
and as you look forward into eternity, will see one wo 
rising after another, like the billows of the ocean, in a 
train that will never end. 

The consequeuce of your being brought before the 
last tribunal, and of receiving a formal and final sentence 
from the lips of the Judge, will be still more tremendous. 
At the close of this awful transaction, you will behold, 
with a bewildered look of agony, all above, beneath, 
around, vaulted with the funereal fires of this great 
world ; and when amidst this final wreck of nature, you 
look out for a refuge from the fiery storm, no refuge in 
the universe will be open for yon, except that dungeon of 
wo in which the wrath of God is to have its perpetual 
operation. Into that prison of the universe, that grave 
of lost but living souls, you will immediately enter ; and 
there, in the hopelessness of unavailing anguish — there, 
amidst the curses and wailings of the lost — there, where 
the eye can fasten upon no object upon which the wrath 
of God has not fastened before it, you must run the dreary 
round of everlasting ages. The sentence was, " Depart, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire." And is it so, that this 
prison is built for eternity ; — that these flames are kin- 
dled for eternity ; — that these bolts, and bars, and chains, 
bespeak an eternal residence in these vaults of despair ? 
Will not some messenger come hither from yonder 
blissful regions, though it be ten thousand millions of 
ages hence, to tell thee that this long night of suffer- 



69 

ing will yet be succeeded by a morning of peace and joy ? 
No, sinner, there are no such tidings in store for thee : 
thou wert sentenced there for a period as unlimited as the 
duration of God ; and thy sentence is irreversible, 

I inquire now of the conscience of every youth pre- 
sent, who is devoted to sinful pleasure, whether these 
meditations upon the judgment do not throw an aspect of 
terror over the course which he is pursuing ; and whe- 
ther he dare persist any longer in a course which must 
so certainly lead to such a tremendous result ? If this 
life of vanity and pleasure had no connexion with eter- 
nity, or if it were itself to be eternal, however pitiful a 
portion you might find in it, we might consent, with less 
reluctance, to leave you to your wretched choice : but 
connected as it is with a course of illimitable and unut- 
terable suffering, wonder not that we call upon you with 
pressing importunity to abandon it. Do you ask whe- 
ther you must abandon all the amusements of the world ? 
I answer — Abandon all upon which you dare not ask the 
blessing of God ; — all which crowd out of your thoughts 
the realities of eternity 5 — all which you are unwilling 
to think of in connexion with the prospect of dying — all 
for which you would dread that God should bring you 
into judgment. Do you ask, again, what those amuse- 
ments are in which you may safely indulge, while you 
are yet unreconciled to God ? I reply, by asking what 
amusement you would choose if you were just ready to 
be enveloped in the flames of a burning house ; or if 
you were under sentence of death, and had but one hour 
more, before you should ascend the scaffold ? Do you 
spurn at the suggestion of trifling in circumstances like 
these ? Then say not that we are superstitious when 
we tell you that you have no time to waste in amuse- 
ment, while yet your whole work for eternity is before 
you, and for aught you can tell, each passing hour may 
be your last. Do you plead for a single indulgence ? Do 
you say, let me go into one more scene of vain recrea- 



70 

tion, and cheer my heart once more in these days of my 
youth, and then I will abandon the vanities of the world 
for ever ? My young friend, the very resolution is a 
cheat : but even if it were not, who has told you that 
that one scene of recreation may not occupy the whole 
period given you to prepare for eternity ; and that you 
are not subjected to the alternative of turning your back 
upon it, or of certainly losing heaven ? Is it rational — 
rather is it not the height of madness, to waste a single 
moment, while you are suspended between an eternal 
heaven and an eternal hell ? 

I leave this solemn subject, beloved youth, with your 
consciences. I entreat you to make a serious and prac- 
tical application of it. I pray the God of all grace to 
bring it seasonably to your remembrance, and give it its 
legitimate influence over your feelings and conduct. But 
if all which has been said shall appear to you as an idle 
tale ; if, after having been warned of the solemnities of 
the judgment, you are prepared to rush back to a course 
of sinful pleasure, then I must leave you with the same 
awful irony, and the same solemn admonition, with which 
I began this discourse. " Rejoice, O young man, in thy 
youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy 
youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the 
sight of thine eyes ; but know thou, that for all these 
things, God will bring thee into judgment." 



LECTURE V 



REGARD TO THE FAVOR OF THE WORLD CONTRASTED 
'VI TH A REGARD TO THE FAVOR OF GOD. 



1st THESSALONIANS II. 4. 

NOT AS PLEASING MEN, BUT GOD, 

The church to which this epistie was addressed, is 
supposed to have been planted by Paul and Silas, soon 
after the outrages committed upon them at Phllippi, and 
recorded in the sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the 
Apostles. In the verses immediately preceding the text, 
the apostle alludes to the signal success w^hich attended 
his first labors among the Thessalonians ; and notices, as 
an occasion of rejoicing, the fact that he and his com* 
panion in labor — notwithstanding the shameful treatment 
they had just met in a neighboring city, and the obsta- 
cles which they still had to encounter — were enabled, in 
the strength of divine grace, to preach the gospel with 
boldness and fidelity. And what chiefly encouraged 
them to these courageous efforts, was the reflection that 
they had no mercenary purposes to answer ; and that 
there was nothing in their management in respect to 
which they need shrink from the strictest scrutiny ; but 
all was open and honest ; " not as pleasing men,"' or as 
consulting the tastes and prejudices of the world, " but" 



72 

as endeavoring to secure the approbation of " God, 
which trieth our hearts." 

The text, you perceive, has a primary reference to 
ministers of the gospel. And surely, if there be a class 
of men, in respect to whom it is pre-eminently impor- 
tant that they should act under the influence of the 
principle which the apostle here recognizes, ministers of 
the gospel constitute that class. But it is important that 
all others should be governed by this principle, as well 
as ministers. It is especially important that its influence 
should be felt by persons in the morning of life ; because 
that is the period in which habits are formed, which, in 
most instances, constitute the elements of future cha- 
racter. 

When the apostle, in our text, institutes an apparent 
opposition between pleasing men and pleasing God, we 
are not to suppose that he intends to forbid every effort 
to please men ; for this would be inconsistent not only 
with many of his exhortations, but with his own con- 
duct. u Let every one of us/' saith he, " please his 
neighbor for his good to edification." And again : "I 
am made all things to all men, that I might, by all 
means, save some." The gospel not only allows, but 
requires, that we should seek the favorable regards of 
our fellow-men, especially, as a means of our own use- 
fulness ; and the course of conduct which it prescribes, 
is exactly fitted to such a result. Hence it has been 
said, with much truth and force, that the gospel contains 
the most perfect system of politeness which the world 
has seen. 

The apostle, in our text, intends only to contrast a 
supreme regard to the approbation of the world, and a 
supreme regard to the approbation of God, as governing 
principles of action; and to imply that they are per- 
fectly incompatible with each other. 

My purpose, in this discourse, is to illustrate and 

CONTRAST THE INFLUENCE OF THESE TWO DISPOSITIONS, 



73 

I. Upon human character : 
II. Upon human happiness. 

I. Upon human character. 

1. I remark, in the first place, that it is the tendency 
of a supreme regard to the approbation of the world , to 
produce a fickle character ; of a supreme regard to the 
approbation of God, a stable one. 

Who that has any knowledge of the world, needs to 
be told that its maxims, principles, conduct, are con- 
stantly changing ? What, at one period, is admired as 
elegant, or praiseworthy, soon comes to be regarded with 
indifference, and perhaps ultimately sinks into contempt ; 
and on the other hand, what, at one time, is considered 
mean or worthless, gradually rises into respectability, and 
it may be, at length, becomes an object of admiration. For 
a complete illustration of this remark, you need only 
look into the walks of what is commonly called fashion- 
able life ; and you will see one fashion after another, in re- 
spect to manners, dress, equipage, and many other things, 
succeeding so rapidly, that even the devotees of fashion 
themselves are scarcely able to do homage to every new 
idol. Here you have a fair specimen of the fluctuation 
of human opinion. If then you make human opinion 
the standard of your conduct, and that standard is con- 
stantly varying, your conduct must of course exhibit a 
corresponding course of changes ; and here is the foun- 
dation of a fickle character. 

On the other hand, the person who seeks supremely 
the approbation of God, has a fixed standard of action. 
The law of God is his rule of duty ; and that law, like 
its author, is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 
He may indeed sometimes be embarrassed, in respect to 
particular cases, to know what this law requires and 
what it forbids ; but, in general, it marks out for him a 
plain path. Hence he acts not only in conformity to a 
G 



74 

fixed standard, but generally without hesitation ; and in 
this way he cannot fail to acquire and to exhibit stability 
of character. 

2. It is the tendency of a supreme regard to the appro- 
bation of the world, to produce a timid character; of a 
supreme regard to the approbation of God, a courageous 
one. 

The devotee of the world's favor has no easy task to 
perform. He well knows that he must shape his con- 
duct to suit different and opposite dispositions ; that in 
securing the approbation of one, he is liable to lose that 
of another ; and that the means which may seem to him 
best adapted to gain favor, may prove to be fraught with 
injury or disgrace. Besides, he has, sometimes, at least, 
a secret conviction that the course which he is pursuing 
is wrong ; and that his Maker and Judge is offended that 
the supreme homage of his heart should be withheld 
from Him. Here, then, is a double influence exerted to 
produce a timid character. On the one hand, he fears 
that he shall not gain the object which he is seeking : on 
the other, he fears that, if he does gain it, it will be at 
the expense of what is infinitely more valuable. Is it 
not obvious that a character formed under such an influ- 
ence, will be likely to bear a strong impression of ti- 
midity ? 

But in seeking supremely the favor of God, there is 
every thing to inspire true courage. There is the cer- 
tainty of success, which is always favorable to bold and 
vigorous action. There is the reflection, that he whose 
approbation we seek, is All-gracious and Almighty ; and 
that let the world do by us as it may, his favor is a suf- 
ficient portion. There is moreover the consideration that 
the course which we are pursuing is in itself the right 
course ; the course which reason, conscience, the bible, 
all prescribe. Who that acts under the influence of 
considerations like these, can fail to act with unyielding 
resolution ? 



75 

3. It is the tendency of a supreme regard to the appro- 
bation of the worlds to produce a hypocritical character ; 
of a supreme regard to the approbation of God, an honest 
one. 

I have already remarked that, owing to the different 
tastes and dispositions of men, it will often happen that 
that course of conduct which will gain the approbation 
of one, will forfeit that of another ; and hence he whose 
governing object is to please the world, will endeavor to 
appear to each one in such a character as he supposes 
will be most likely to secure regard ; and to conceal 
from each one whatever he thinks will serve to excite 
displeasure. If he happens to fall in with one who is a 
warm advocate of any particular measure, the desire of 
popularity will naturally lead him to appear as an advo- 
cate of it also ; or if he happens to be in the company of 
another by whom the same measure is opposed, the same 
desire will operate to induce him, if not to join in opposi- 
tion to the measure, at least, to say nothing in its favor. 
In this way he contracts the habit of dissimulation ; and 
his whole intercourse becomes a system of studied con- 
cealment. 

But on the other hand, he who is governed by a su- 
preme regard to the favor of God, has no motive to de- 
part from the path of open and honest dealing. If he 
were to do this, he would instantly defeat his object ; for 
not the approbation, but the frown, of Jehovah, attends 
all insincerity. Moreover, the course which he is pur- 
suing, neither involves guilt nor awakens shame : there 
is therefore no reason why he should attempt to conceal 
his conduct from his fellow-men, or Avhy he should desire 
to conceal it from his Maker. Hence his character bears 
upon it the impression of truth and honesty. 

4. It is the tendency of a supreme regard to the appro- 
bation of the world to produce an inconsistent character ; 
of a supreme regard to the approbation of God, a con- 
sistent one. 



76 

As he who is governed by a supreme regard to the fa- 
vor of the world has no fixed rule of action, but is 
blown hither and thither by the breath of popular opi- 
nion, the different parts of his conduct must, of course, 
be inconsistent with each other. As the opinions of dif- 
ferent individuals whom he wishes to please, are at vari- 
ance, there must be a corresponding variance between 
the courses of conduct which he adopts in different cases, 
in order to gain his object ; and hence his life is a per- 
petual scene of contradictions. And if he happens to be 
a professor of religion, he is chargeable with a double in- 
consistency ; for not only are the different parts of his 
conduct inconsistent with each other, but his deportment 
as a whole, is utterly inconsistent with his profession ; 
for in his profession is implied an engagement to make 
the will of God, and not the opinions of men, the rule of 
his conduct. Most of the inconsistency that attaches it- 
self to the characters of professed christians, and I may 
add- — of all others, results, no doubt, from an improper 
desire to please the world. 

But he who acts from a supreme regard to the appro- 
bation of God, cannot fail to exhibit a consistent charac- 
ter. The rule by which his conduct is governed, re- 
quires that every duty should be done in its proper place ; 
and in adhering to this, his character, in its different 
parts, acquires a beautiful consistency and harmony, 
which it could acquire under no other influence. Such 
a person will not, on the one hand, neglect his retired du- 
ties — the duties of secret prayer, and reading the scrip- 
tures, and self-communion, for the sake of being con- 
stantly engaged in public religious exercises ; nor, on the 
other hand, will he excuse himself from the more public 
services of religion, on the ground that he is regular in 
the duties of the closet. He will not substitute works 
for faith, nor faith for works, but will exhibit both in 
bright and beautiful combination. He whose favor he 
seeks, requires that he should cultivate all the virtues 



77 

and graces of the christian ; and if he fail in respect to 
any, he so far incurs the divine displeasure. Hence his 
character is consistent with itself ; and if he be a pro- 
fessed follower of Christ, it is consistent with his pro- 
fession. 

Once more : It is the tendency of a supreme regard to 
the approbation of the world to produce an unholy cha- 
racter ; of a supreme regard to the approbation of God, 
a holy one. 

It is the decision of inspiration, that " the whole world 
lieth in wickedness ;" and what the bible teaches on this 
subject, observation abundantly confirms. It is only ne- 
cessary to look abroad into the world, to be satisfied that 
the maxims, the feelings, the practices, that generally 
prevail in it, are directly opposed to the spiritual and holy 
requisitions of God's word. He, therefore, who makes 
the approbation of the world his supreme object, must 
expect that his character will, in this respect also, take 
the stamp of the mould in which it is cast. Moreover, 
the very object which he is seeking, considered as a su- 
preme object, is unholy ; the means by which he en- 
deavors to gain it, are also unholy ; and under such an 
influence, how can he form any other than an unholy 
character ? It were a contradiction to suppose that a 
person should make the favor of the world his govern- 
ing object, and not retain that carnal mind which is en- 
mity against God. 

He, on the other hand, who seeks supremely the ap- 
probation of God, endeavors to be conformed to a stan- 
dard of perfect holiness. He can gain the divine appro- 
bation only by yielding obedience to the law which God 
has given him as the rule of his conduct ; and that law 
is perfectly holy. In endeavoring to obey its requisi- 
tions, he comes under a sanctifying influence ; he is 
brought immediately into the atmosphere of moral pu- 
rity. And the more earnestly he seeks the divine ap- 
G2 



78 

probation, by seeking conformity to the divine law, the 
more his character becomes assimilated to that of the in- 
finitely holy God. 

II. Such is the influence which the two principles 
brought to view in our text, exert upon human charac- 
ter. I am now, secondly, to illustrate the influence of the 
same principles on human happiness. And if the effect 
on character be as has been represented, it would seem 
that little need be said to illustrate the effect on happi- 
ness ; for it admits of no question, on the one hand, that 
a stable, courageous, honest, consistent, and holy cha- 
racter, is favorable to happiness ; nor, on the other, that 
a fickle, timid, hypocritical, inconsistent, and unholy 
character, has within itself the elements of misery. But 
as this is a point of great importance, I shall illustrate it 
by several distinct particulars. 

1 . The person who seeks supremely the favor of the 
world !, has no assurance that he shall gain it : he who 
seeks supremely the favor of God, has certain evidence 
that his efforts will be successful. 

In order to estimate the difficulty of gaining the favor 
of the world, consider, for a moment, how difficult it 
often is to gain the favor of an individual. Not unfre- 
quently, the efforts to accomplish this object fail from 
the want of a proper knowledge of the disposition to be 
consulted ; or from their being made at an unpropitious 
moment ; or from suspicion being excited that they have 
originated in some selfish purpose. Hence it has often 
happened that the very means which have been used to 
secure favor, have resulted in producing displeasure or 
disgust. And if it is often so difficult to gain the fa- 
vor even of an individual, how much greater the task to 
gain that of many ; and how much greater still, that of 
the world ; or of that part of it with which we have in- 
tercourse. As the number of individuals, and of course 



79 

the variety of dispositions which we have to consult in 
our conduct, increases, the greater the probability that in- 
terfering claims will be made upon us which we shall 
not be able to meet, and that in gaining the favor of 
some, we shall provoke the jealousy of others. Thus, 
you perceive that, if you make the approbation of the 
world your supreme object, you can never be certain of 
gaining it ; at least in any considerable degree. Admit- 
ting that it were ever so valuable, when attained, you 
may, for aught you can tell, spend your days in seeking 
it, and die without having ever gained your object. 

But he who seeks supremely the favor of God, has an 
assurance that his efforts shall not be in vain. This as- 
surance results from the declarations of God, and from 
the experience of men. Jehovah, speaking under the 
name of Wisdom, says, " I love them that love me, and 
they that seek me early shall find me." And again, our 
Saviour says, u He that hath my commandments and 
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth 
me, shall be loved of my Father ; and I will love him, 
and will manifest myself to him." And the testimony 
of experience corresponds with the declarations of God. 
Every person who has made the favor of God his su- 
preme object, has attained it ; and in far the greater num- 
ber of instances, the evidence of having attained it has 
been communicated in the light of God's countenance, 
and in the spirit of adoption. Every such instance con- 
veys an assurance that the favor of God may be gained, 
by all who will seek it in a proper manner. 

Here, then, you perceive one important point of diffe- 
rence between the two objects brought to view in our 
text ; — the difference between a certainty and an uncer- 
tainty. Even if the favor of God and the favor of the 
world, when actually gained, were equally valuable, as 
means of promoting happiness, yet you have no secu- 
rity that you can gain the one, while you have certain 
evidence that you may gain the other. Who that is 



80 

wise, would choose to spend his strength in pursuit of 
that which would probably elude his grasp, while his 
efforts might be directed towards another object, to say 
the least, of equal value, which was fairly within his 
reach ? 

2. He who seeks supremely the favor of the world, if 
he gains it, has no security that he shall retain it : he 
who seeks supremely the favor of God, having once gained 
it j has an assurance that he shall retain it for ever. 

Who does not know, who has not felt, how unstable 
are human friendships ? Who of us has not witnessed 
cases in which the most ardent friendships — friendships 
which seemed formed for life, have suddenly given place 
to deep-rooted and bitter enmity ; and that too, it may be, 
from some circumstance of the most trifling nature ? 
Who of us has not, at some time, been met with distant 
reserve, where he anticipated a cordial welcome ; or who 
has not been pained to observe indications of diminished 
regard, when he has been conscious of having done no- 
thing to deserve it, and has been unable even to conjec- 
ture the occasion of the change ? Nor are these facts 
difficult to be accounted for. There is a fickleness be- 
longing to the human character, which goes far towards 
explaining it. Moreover, as you are yourself, but an 
imperfect and sinful being, you are liable, from the 
impulse of passion or the want of proper caution, to 
say and do some things which may wound the feelings 
of a friend, and ultimately produce a permanent aliena- 
tion : or you may say and do other things, with per- 
fectly innocent intentions, which, yet, from being misun- 
derstood, may produce the same unhappy effect : or some 
jealous rival, who wishes to supplant you in the affec- 
tions of your friend, may, by his disingenuous efforts, 
accomplish the object. You perceive, then, that if the 
favor of the world were worth ever so much in itself, 
and were gained with ever so much ease, its value would 



81 

be greatly abated by the consideration that you have no 
security that you shall retain it even for an hour. Must 
not the very enjoyment of it be embittered by the un- 
certainty of its continuance ; and what will you do, 
when it is actually gone, and has left you without any 
other resources ? 

Far otherwise is it with the favor of God. Gain that 
once, and you have gained it for eternity. The love 
which God bears for his people, is called, in scripture, an 
"everlasting love." Our Saviour declares concerning 
them, " I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall 
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
hand." I do not mean that the christian may not, by 
neglect of duty, lose, in some measure, the evidences of 
the divine favor, and provoke God to a temporary with- 
drawment of the light of his countenance. But I mean 
that he who is once reconciled to God, has his name 
written in the lamb's book of life ; and that name will 
never be blotted out : and even the temporary loss of 
divine consolation, he may and will, in a great measure at 
least, avoid, if he is faithful in the discharge of duty. 
Yes, I repeat, the favor of God, once gained, endureth 
forever. Principalities and powers may combine their 
efforts to wrest from the believer this possession, but it 
will still remain his. It is secured by the promise — the 
oath, of the ever-living Jehovah. 

3. He who seeks supremely the favor of the world, even 
if he not only gains it, but retains it till the close of life, 
does not, after all, find in it what he needs : he who seeks 
supremely the favor of God, finds in it every thing that he 
needs. 

Be it so, that so long as the days of prosperity last, the 
man who seeks supremely the favor of the world, finds in 
it a portion with which he is tolerably satisfied ; — though 
I doubt not that even then, the heart sometimes sickens 
over the meagreness of its enjoyments, and longs for 



82 

something more substantial and satisfying : but let it not 
be forgotten, that in the calendar of human life are 
numbered many days of affliction. There are days of 
pain, when the hand of disease rests upon us, with con- 
vulsive and ominous pressure. There are days of be- 
reavement, when the light of friendship and hope goes out 
in our dwellings. Above all, there is the day of death, 
when this earthly tabernacle tumbles to ruins, and the 
spirit which has inhabited it takes its flight to other 
worlds. Weigh all the consolation to be derived from 
the favor of the world in either of these cases, and it will 
be lighter than vanity. Can the favor of the world make 
you forget the pains which convulse your system ? Can 
the favor of the world cheer your desolate heart, when 
your dearest friend goes down to the grave ? Will any 
light break from the favor of the world upon the valley of 
death, to cheer your passage from time into eternity ? 
On yonder dying bed lies a man, the grand object of 
whose life has been to gain the favor of the world : and 
now in this extremity of nature — this most fearful exigency 
of his existence, let the world be called upon to open its 
resources of consolation. Who now of all the children 
of the world shall go to that bed of death in the character 
of a comforter ? Shall the votary of wealth go, and talk 
to that dying sinner of his splendid domains or numerous 
possessions ? Shall the votary of pleasure go, and tell of 
some projected scene of amusement, where every heart 
will beat high with sensual joy ? Shall the stout-hearted 
and impious opposer of religion go, and talk fearlessly 
about dying, and exhibit all the black infidelity of his 
creed, and press the awful thought of annihilation ? Who 
will not say that all this is but an insult to the agonies of 
death ; and that they who have professedly come on an 
errand of consolation, have only imparted an additional 
sharpness to the pang of dying ? Go back, ye miserable 
comforters ; this is not the place for you. Here are 
agonies to be relieved, which your presence only serves 



S3 

to heighten. This expiring sinner pants for something 
which it is not for you, or the world which you represent, 
to bestow ; and because he has it not, he is stung by 
remorse, or overwhelmed with despair. 

Such are the world's resources of consolation in respect 
to the calamities which befal us while we remain in it : 
And if it is so powerless to yield relief even here, what 
can it do for the soul when it shall have passed into the 
eternal world ? Think not that all the evils to which men 
are exposed, exist in the present life : the most fearful 
evils belong to the condition of the sinner in eternity. 
But when he has once passed the boundary of time, the 
world, if it had ever so many favors to bestow, can no 
longer reach him. The influence of what it has done is 
indeed felt, not in the mitigation, but in the aggravation 
of his doom ; but henceforth it can do nothing either to 
lessen or to increase his anguish. Oh, if the favor of the 
world could satisfy every desire in the present life, yet 
how poor a portion would it be, so long as it offers no 
provision for a future and eternal existence ! 

Not so with the all-sufficient God. When the arrows 
of affliction pierce the heart, Jehovah condescends to take 
up his residence in it, while it is yet bleeding and broken, 
as the Spirit of consolation. You may see what his Al- 
mighty grace can do, in that quiet and uncomplaining 
spirit which delights to count up the mercies of God, on 
the bed of pain. You may see it in the cheerful submis- 
sion with which the heart lets go the earthly objects and 
interests which it valued most ; in the serenity which 
settles upon the countenance, while the falling clods an- 
nounce that a beloved friend will never rise from his 
dark bed till the morning of the resurrection. You may 
see it especially in the sublime actings of that faith, which 
often enables the soul to hold sweet communion with its 
Redeemer in the valley of death, and to celebrate, as it 
were, the fall of the earthly tabernacle with a shout of 
victory. And beyond the boundaries of time, when the 



84 

soul wakes, conscious, active, immortal, and the world 
has no more that it can do, or even attempt to do, for the 
soul's comfort, there will flow out to it from the favor of 
God, blessings large as its desires — lasting as its existence. 
Tell me, ye votaries of the world's favor, what is it, when 
compared with the treasures of Almighty grace ? 

4. He who seeks supremely the favor of the world, for- 
feits the peace of his conscience : he who seeks supremely 
the favor of God, secures the peace of his conscience. 

As there is an essential difference between virtue and 
vice, holiness and sin, so God has constituted us with the 
power of perceiving this difference ; and with the percep- 
tion, has connected a corresponding feeling of approbation 
Or disapprobation ; and in respect to our own conduct, of 
pleasure or pain. Now, that that course of conduct in 
which we seek supremely the favor of the world is a 
sinful course, admits of no question ; for surely it is the 
very essence of sin to withhold the heart from God. He 
who adopts such a course, then, must necessarily fall 
under the lash of his own conscience. He may indeed, 
for the most part, succeed in drowning her accusations in 
the din of pleasure or the din of business ; but sometimes, 
at least, she will speak with an authority and an energy 
that will make him tremble ; and with such an accuser as 
this in his bosom, it matters little how many friends he 
may have in the world. Moreover, conscience sternly 
points him to a retribution : she spreads out before him 
his sins, as matter of record in the book of God's remem- 
brance, and as matter for trial on the judgment day : she 
anticipates the condemning sentence, and the final doom ; 
and asks with awful emphasis, " Who can dwell with 
everlasting burnings ?" The martyr on the rack, or in 
the flames, may be happy ; for he has conscience on his 
side : but not he who is at war with himself, though he 
may dwell in a palace, or sit upon a throne. 



85 

He, on theother hand, who seeks supremely the favor 
of God, keeps a conscience, in a good degree, void of 
offence. The course of conduct which he must pursue 
in order to gain the divine approbation, is precisely that 
which conscience approves and prescribes. Hence, let 
his external circumstances be as they may, he has peace 
within — a peace that passeth understanding. And not 
only has he the delightful consciousness of doing right, 
but he can look upward to the throne of God, and recog- 
nize in the august Being who sits thereon, a forgiving 
Father : he can look forward to the eternal world, and in 
the bright glories of Heaven, can recognize his own future 
and everlasting portion. Say, ye who have known what 
it is to have a conscience burdened with guilt, and have 
afterwards known what it is to have that burden removed 
by the application of the peace-speaking blood of Christ ; 
— say whether a good conscience — a pacified conscience, 
is not among the richest blessings to be enjoyed on this 
side heaven ? 

5. I observe in the last place, that he who seeks su- 
premely the favor of God, is more likely to gain the favor 
of the world, than he who makes the favor of the world 
his chief object. 

It is a truth never to be forgotten, that men are consti- 
tuted with an original sense of right and wrong ; and that 
nothing but an extreme degree of depravity can materially 
impair it. Hence it is not at the option of men whether 
they will respect virtue or not : they may indeed profess 
to despise it, and make it the theme of ridicule and insult ; 
but they cannot, unless by a long course of flagrant 
wickedness, extinguish that sentiment of reverence for it, 
which belongs to their nature. Does not the world re- 
spect stability, honesty, consistency, of character? I 
hesitate not to make the appeal to the most fickle, dis- 
honest, and inconsistent of the children of the world ; and 
whatever may be the testimony of their lips, I doubt not 
H 



86 

that their consciences will return an affirmative answer. 
In the exhibition of these traits of character, no doubt, 
there will be some things to which their feelings will be 
opposed ; but nothing which will not accord with their 
conviction of what is right, reasonable, and honorable. 

Moreover, in making the favor of God your supreme 
object, you necessarily adopt a course of conduct from 
which the world cannot fail to derive much advantage. 
You not only cautiously avoid doing them injury, but you 
aim, by every means in your power, to promote their best 
interests. Now I maintain that, as depraved as man is, 
he has too much of conscience, and I may say ordinarily 
too much of gratitude, to be able altogether to resist such 
an appeal. Show a man that you are his friend, by doing 
every thing you can for his benefit, and let this course be 
continued for a long time, and it must be a deeply rooted 
prejudice indeed, which will not yield to such an exhibi- 
tion of kindness. " And who is he that will harm you," 
says the apostle, "if ye be followers of that which is 
good ?" 

But what appears so probable from the nature of the 
case, is abundantly confirmed by facts. Look abroad and 
decide for yourselves, who is the person to whom the 
world renders the most substantial tribute of respect. 
Is it not the man who is stable in all his purposes, and 
who has moral courage to carry them into effect ; who is 
honest in all his dealings, both before God and man ; 
whose conduct is consistent with itself, and consistent with 
his profession ; and w r ho maintains a close and holy walk 
with God ? I dare appeal to any of you, my young 
friends, for an answer. Is it not manifest, then, both 
from reason and from fact, that they w T ho seek supremely 
the favor of the world, mistake in respect to the best 
means of gaining it ; and that it is the ordinance of God 
that it should be found of those, of whom it may be said 
comparatively that they seek it not ? 



87 

And now, my young friends, will not every one of you 
resolve, here on the threshold of life, that you will make 
the favor of God, and not the favor of the world, your 
grand object of pursuit ? Is it not evident that the world 
is a hard master ; that while its favor is difficult to be 
gained, it is easy to be lost ; that all that it can do for its 
votaries, it does in seasons of prosperity, when they are 
least in need ; and that when the evil days come, it leaves 
them to struggle unassisted with calamity and death ? Is 
it not manifest, on the other hand, that it is a most profit- 
able employment to seek the favor of God : for his favor 
is not only easily gained, and when gained, is never lost, 
but it is life ; it meets all the exigencies of the soul in 
every period of its existence. Moreover it keeps the soul 
at peace with itself ; and saves it from the shudderings of 
guilt, and the forebodings of hell. And even the world 
itself renders its best tribute to the man who seeks su- 
premely the favor of God. Be it your fixed purpose, 
then, in every step that you take, to endeavor to gain the 
divine approbation. In all the various parts of your de- 
portment, in all your intercourse with the world, espe- 
cially in the adoption of your religious sentiments, and the 
formation of your religious character, let the grand inquiry 
be, ( What will please God who searcheth the heart ?' 
Do this, and no matter whether the world smile, or 
whether the world frown ; for you can look inward to an 
approving conscience, and upward to an approving God. 



LECTURE VI. 



RELIGION AN ALL-PERVADING PRINCIPLE . 



MATTHEW XIII. 8. 

BUT OTHER FELL INTO GOOD GROUND, AND BROUGHT FORTH 
FRUIT. 

One of the most fruitful sources of self-deception, 
especially among the young and inexperienced, is the 
disposition which prevails to take partial views of religion. 
There are those who make the whole of religion consist 
in a correct creed ; and expect to be saved by their faith, 
though it neither purifies the heart, nor controls the life. 
There are those whose religion is made up entirely of 
strong emotion ; who make the evidence of christian cha- 
racter turn solely upon the point of powerful excitement ; 
regarding it as only a secondary concern, what they be- 
lieve on the one hand, or how they live on the other. 
And there are others still, with whom the morality of the 
life is all in all ; who, while they refrain from open vice, 
and are honest in their dealings, and punctual to their 
engagements, and perhaps charitable to the poor, pro- 
nounce an attachment to the truths of the bible, bigotry ; 
and the inward experience of the power of these truths, 
enthusiasm. Each of these classes has, at best, but a 
partial religion. They are all chargeable with separating 
things which God hath joined together ; and they despoil 
Christianity not only of its beauty, but of its power. 
H2 



90 

The parable from which our text is taken, is designed 
to illustrate the different influence which the gospel exerts 
upon different hearts, according to their preparation for 
receiving it. The text itself illustrates the influence of 
the gospel on a heart that has been mellowed and pre- 
pared for its reception by divine grace. By the seed, we 
are to understand the word of God. By the good ground, 
an honest heart. By its bringing forth fruit, its substan- 
tial and visible effect in a course of external obedience. 
The plain import of the passage then is, that the word of 
God being cordially believed, or received through the 
understanding into a good heart, becomes the principle of 
a holy life ; in other words, that religion is an all- 
pervading PRINCIPLE. 

In illustrating this sentiment, I observe, 

I. First, that Religion demands the homage of the in- 
tellect^ and requires that the truth should be believed, 

I am not about to plead the cause of those who will 
have it that perfect agreement in religious opinion is 
necessary to constitute the basis of mutual charity ; or 
that absolute freedom from theological error is essential to 
our acceptance with God : for if the former of these were 
true, the christian brotherhood would either be completely 
dissolved, or would be reduced almost to nothing : if we 
were to admit the latter, it might well be asked, c Who 
then can be saved ?' Nor is it any part of my design to 
agitate the delicate and difficult question, i What degree 
of religious error may be held in consistency with a claim 
to christian character ?' For he that reflects at all must 
perceive that no general answer to this inquiry can be 
given ; for as men are to be judged according to the light 
which they enjoy, the same degree of error may be in- 
comparably more dangerous in some circumstances than 
in others. Without inquiring, therefore, what the leading 
truths of the gospel are, I am only concerned, at present, 
to show, that whatever they are, they are to be believed ; 



91 

and that he who refuses his assent to them, cannot, in any 
proper sense of the word, be considered a christian. 

For in the first place, I may ask, if it is not important 
that the truths of the gospel should be believed, wherefore 
did God reveal them ? If you admit that God is a Being 
of infinite wisdom, you must also admit that his views of 
things are all perfectly right ; and that whatever He re- 
gards important, certainly is so. What, then, I ask, shall 
we infer from the fact of his having made a revelation, 
except that He judged it important that such a revelation 
should be made ? And if this be a legitimate inference 
even from the fact, is it not still more so from the circum- 
stances of the fact ; from the wonderful expense at which 
this revelation was given to the world, and the wonderful 
interest which has been manifested for its preservation ? 
Would Jehovah, think you, have raised up a succession 
of men, reaching through a period of many centuries, and 
anointed them with his own Spirit, that they might com- 
municate his will without the possibility of error ; and 
would he have miraculously interposed by his providence, 
to preserve this inspired record amidst revolutions in which 
every human record has perished, if, after all, he regarded 
it as a matter of inconsiderable moment ? Has he not, 
then, by his providence, inscribed upon it his own esti- 
mate of its value ? 

But if Jehovah regards this revelation important, 
whence does it derive its importance in his estimation ? 
Doubtless from the fact that it is designed to be instru- 
mental of promoting his glory in the salvation of men. 
But how can it subserve this object, unless you believe 
it, any more than a system of pagan philosophy, which 
you have never taken the trouble to examine, or if you 
have, have thrown it by as bearing the stamp of absurdity 
or imposture ? In refusing your assent to the truths of 
the Bible, then, you set up your wisdom against that of 
the Eternal ; you virtually declare that the communica- 
tion of his will made at an unparalleled expense, does not 



92 

deserve your regard : you close against it even the doors 
of your understanding ; and what greater affront than this 
can you offer to the Almighty Being who dictated it ? 

But you say, perhaps, that you believe the Bible, and 
therefore these remarks are inapplicable to you. I an- 
swer, they are not inapplicable, provided you hold the 
maxim that it is no matter what a man believes in respect 
to its leading truths ; for if it is no matter what he be- 
lieves, it is no matter whether he believes any thing. 
Talk not of your belief either in the authority or the 
doctrines of revelation, so long as you maintain that a 
rejection of either is innocent ; for reason herself is at no 
loss to answer the question whether that faith is of any 
value which pronounces it innocent to contemn the au- 
thority of God, and slight his acknowledged communica- 
tions. 

Let no one here, professing to admit the claims of the 
Bible to be a divine revelation, repeat the hackneyed al- 
legation against it, that its meaning is obscure ; and that 
where there is so much room for difference of opinion, it 
were rash to fix a limit to our charity. In respect to 
minor points of christian doctrine, let the principle, if you 
will, be admitted ; but the moment you extend its appli- 
cation to the leading truths of the gospel, you virtually 
arraign Jehovah on the charge of trifling with his crea- 
tures. You bring against him the accusation of having 
professedly given a revelation to mankind — a revelation 
too which involves their destiny for eternity — and yet of 
having framed it in such a manner that it actually amounts 
to no revelation ; because its meaning is incapable of being 
satisfactorily ascertained. Nor can you escape from this 
fearful reflection upon the Divine character, by saying that 
this effect is chargeable to the limited powers of the human 
mind ; because the author of it knew well the character 
of the beings for whom it was designed, and the same 
Being who maae tne mind, made the revelation ; and to 
say that he did not adapt the one to the other, would be 



93 

nothing less than to charge him with a deficiency either 
of wisdom or goodness. I repeat, then, he who makes 
the obscurity of the Bible an apology for error in respect 
to any of its prominent doctrines, puts himself in the im- 
pious attitude of God's accuser : he lifts his arm toward 
the eternal throne, and insolently asks, " Why doest thou 
so ?" 

Another consideration which shows that a belief of the 
truth is an essential part of religion, is, that all good prac- 
tice must have its foundation in good principles. I know 
indeed there may be that which to the eye of man shall 
appear to be good practice — there may be an external 
morality so correct as to defy the most rigid human scru- 
tiny, and yet it may all be the operation of the merest 
selfishness — the homage which a heart in rebellion against 
God renders to the good opinion of the world. But when 
we speak of good practice in connexion with religion, we 
can mean nothing less by it than that which is good in the 
sight of God ; and as He searches the heart, surely no 
external actions can be good in his sight, except those 
which are prompted by good motives — which are built 
upon good principles. Men adopt the same rule, so far 
as they can, in judging of each other ; that is, they 
estimate the character of actions by the supposed motives 
in which they originate ; though from the imperfection of 
their views, they are always liable to be deceived. But 
Jehovah can never call evil good, or good evil ; for every 
motive and principle of human conduct is perfectly open 
to his inspection. 

Now, what think you, in the view of God, must con- 
stitute the principles of action which he can approve ? 
What, but the truths which he has revealed in his word ? 
Are not the motives which they contain for pursuing the 
course of action which is here pointed out, not only the 
most rational, but the most weighty, which it is possible 
for the human mind to contemplate ? But these truths 
can never become with you the principles of action, un- 



94 

less they are believed ; so that in the rejection or the 
neglect of them, you actually undermine the foundation 
of a good life, and render your claims to religious charac- 
ter as baseless as the fabric of a vision. 

Separate now from religion a belief in the great truths 
of the bible, and see whether, in this new form, she does 
not seem to you maimed, and stripped of her glory. 
What is the religion of the heart, if the heart be not 
under the influence of divine truth ? If it be any thing 
that has the semblance of religion, it is mere animal ex- 
citement. It is the fever of the soul — the fire of the 
passions, now breaking out furiously and now dying 
away : it is a gust of enthusiasm, which perhaps passes 
over in an hour, but is yet desolating as a whirlwind. It 
has in it nothing of uniformity or consistency ; it yields 
no solid comfort ; it prompts to no useful actions. It is, 
if I may be allowed the expression, a religion of acci- 
dent ; it rises and falls, it burns and expires, none can 
predict when, and none can imagine why. And if such 
be the religion of the heart, where there is any experi- 
mental religion professed, apart from the operation of 
christian principle, what will you say of the religion of 
the life ? There may indeed be an occasional paroxysm 
of blind zeal ; but in general you may expect to find a 
deplorable neglect of duty, as unlike the christian life as 
the most opposite elements are different from each other. 
But suppose it be otherwise, and the life be most scru- 
pulously correct, and every external duty be performed 
with pharisaical exactness, what is it, after all, but the 
body without the spirit ; a professed recognition of your 
obligations to obey God, while yet, at the same time, 
you actually refuse to obey him ; for this you do, let 
your external deportment be what it may, so long as 
you act from any other principles than those which he 
has prescribed for the regulation of your conduct. Sup- 
pose that a fellow-creature were to render you the most 
essential service, and to act towards you the part of the 



95 

greatest benefactor ; but that you should afterwards know 
that in all his apparent efforts for your benefit, he had 
actually had no regard for you, but was aiming only at 
the accomplishment of some selfish purpose ? Would 
not such a discovery materially change your opinion of 
his character, and annihilate every sentiment of obliga- 
tion towards him ? Estimate, then, on the same prin- 
ciple, the character of that external obedience which is 
rendered to God, and which is sadly misnamed a good 
life, when it results not from a belief of God's truth, or 
from a regard to his authority, but from the operation of 
that spirit of selfishness which is but another name for 
rebellion. 

I appeal, finally, to the Bible itself ', for direct proof 
that a belief of its doctrines enters essentially into the 
nature of religion. The apostle, in writing to the He- 
brews, declares, that u without faith it is impossible to 
please God." John the Baptist, whose ministry was de- 
signed as a preparation for the establishment of Christ's 
kingdom, exhorted those whom he addressed, to " be- 
lieve the gospel." Our Saviour himself has declared, 
" He that belie veth — shall be saved ; but he that be- 
lie veth not shall be damned." And again, u Verily, ve- 
rily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and be- 
lie veth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life ; and 
he shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from 
death unto life." If a belief of the truths of the gospel, 
then, be so important that God has thought proper to 
make it the subject of an express command ; if he has 
declared that it is essential to obtaining his favor, and 
has suspended upon it the possession of everlasting life, 
who will doubt that it enters essentially into the nature 
of true religion ? 

But you will say that the faith which the passages to 
which I have referred, contemplate, is something more 
than a mere intellectual belief ; that it includes the exer- 
cise of the affections, Be it so : but it involves the a&- 



96 

sent of the understanding also, and cannot exist without 
it: for to suppose that any truth could influence the 
heart, from which the understanding witheld its assent, 
were an absurdity. We are warranted, therefore, in ap- 
plying to the faith of the intellect the passages which 
have been quoted, so far as to say, that without this faith 
(I here speak of those who enjoy the gospel) it is impos- 
sible to obtain the divine favor, or to secure eternal life. 
More than this is indeed necessary ; but without this, 
nothing else can be of any avail. 

Thus I have endeavored to show you that a belief of 
God's truth, an intellectual assent to the doctrines of 
the bible, is an essential part of religion ; — so essential 
that the maxim that it is no matter what a man believes, 
is perfectly at war with the genius of the gospel, and 
utterly unworthy the character of a christian. But, 

II. Religion demands the homage of the hearty and 
requires that the truth should be felt. Though it begins 
with the understanding, it does not end there : the un- 
derstanding is only the door through which it makes its 
way to the heart. 

In illustration of this sentiment, I observe that all tlve 
great truths of revelation are directly calculated to call 
into exercise the affections. Is man susceptible of fear ? 
If by fear be meant a holy reverence, what better fitted 
to awaken this sentiment than the scriptural character of 
God ? Or if we understand by it a dread of evil, what 
better calculated to excite it, than the fearful outline 
which the bible has given us of the condition of the 
lost ? Is man susceptible of gratitude ? Where is to be 
found the record of so much condescension and love, of 
so much suffering voluntarily endured, and endured for 
enemies, as is exhibited in the word of God ? Is man a 
creature of sorrow and of joy ? What better calculated 
to melt him into sorrow, than a contemplation of the eviJ 
of sin, and of his own sins in particular, especially when 



PI 



97 

viewed in their connexion with the cross of Christ? 
And what can waken in his breast a thrill of joy, if it be 
not a view of the glories of the divine character, and the 
glories of redemption, and the glories of immortality, as 
they are brought to view in the word of God ? Is man 
susceptible of hope ? What object in the universe ought 
to be an object of desire, if it be not the incorruptible in- 
heritance which is reserved in heaven for the faithful ; 
and what more could be done to place it within his reach, 
and to make it a proper object of expectation and of ef- 
fort, than the word of God assures us has actually been 
done I In short, I will venture to say, that there is not 
an emotion of the soul, which it is right to indulge, 
which the truth of God, in some or other of its parts, 
is not fitted to awaken. Surely, then, the author of 
our religion must have designed that it should be a reli- 
gion for the affections, else its truths would not have 
been so adapted to call them into exercise. 

Again : Religion is designed to promote our happiness ; 
but it can do this only as it influences the affections ; for 
happiness has its seat in the affections. No exercise of 
the understanding can yield any enjoyment, apart from 
the influence which it exerts upon the feelings. It is 
possible that a mathematician may be enraptured in the 
contemplation of lines and angles ; but the enjoyment 
consists not in the abstract contemplation, but in the 
feeling of admiration and interest which is awakened by it. 
There is enjoyment in the operation of many of the af- 
fections of the soul — in hope, in love, in gratitude, in 
submission, yes, and even in godly sorrow ; but there 
is no enjoyment in the bare operation of the intellect, be- 
cause the intellect is not the seat of enjoyment. If then 
religion will answer the great purpose which it proposes, 
that of making man happy, it must address itself to him 
as a creature of feeling ; and it must bring before him 
considerations which are fitted powerfully to affect his 
feelings ; and any religion which should not do this, 
I 



98 

would mistake the character of man, and would be alto- 
gether inadequate to the exigencies for which it was in- 
tended to provide. As we here assume the fact that our 
religion is of divine origin, and that it is intended to make 
men happy, and as all experience proves that happiness 
has its seat in the affections, w r e are brought instantly to 
the conclusion that it claims the homage of the heart, 
not less than of the understanding ; and that he whose 
religion terminates in the intellect, has not a religion to 
render him happy. 

Moreover, let the word of God be brought to testify to 
this point, and you will find that its testimony is equally 
decisive and abundant. I have already alluded to the 
fact that the faith which the gospel makes a condition of 
salvation, is not merely the faith of the understanding, 
but of the affections. Accordingly, when the eunuch 
inquired of Philip in regard to the propriety of his being 
baptized, the reply was, i If thou believest with all thine 
heart, thou mayest.' Is the exercise of repentance also 
a condition of salvation ? But who does not know that 
repentance is chiefly a work for the affections ? Does 
the word of God require that we should " rejoice in the 
Lord alway ;" that we should be " patient in tribula- 
tion ; M that we should be " meek and lowly in heart ;" 
that we should " love one another with a pure heart, fer- 
vently ;" that we should " be spiritually minded, which 
is life and peace ?" In making these requisitions, do you 
not perceive that it has identified the very existence of 
religion with the exercise of the affections ? And what 
testimony shall be regarded as decisive, if this be pro- 
nounced insufficient ? 

Is it not manifest, then, that let your religion embrace 
as much truth as it will, and as much external morality 
as it may, it can never be the religion which God re- 
quires, or which your own eternal interests demand, un- 
less it reaches the heart ! I proceed to a 



99 

III. Third, and the only remaining consideration to 
which I shall call your attention, which is, that religion 
demands the homage of the life, and requires that the 
truth should be obeyed. And on this article, a few hints, 
surely, may suffice ; for however men may deny the im- 
portance of a correct creed, or of experimental piet}-, 
there are none but the grossly abandoned, who would 
dare to deny that it is essential to religion, to live what 
is commonly called a good life. 

If I have succeeded in the preceding part of the dis- 
course, in showing that correct faith and correct feeling- 
are essential parts of religion, you will perceive that the 
proposition which has just been announced, is only an in- 
ference from what has already been proved ; for a good 
life is just as certain to result from good principles and 
good affections, as a stream is sure to proceed from a 
fountain. Correct principles alone do not indeed insure 
correct conduct ; for every day's experience shows that 
men whose moral and religious opinions are the most un- 
exceptionable, flagrantly violate their own convictions, 
and rush into the haunts of iniquity. But where cor- 
rect opinions are suffered to have their legitimate influ- 
ence on the affections, where faith in the truths of re- 
ligion purifies the heart, there you may look for a holy 
life with as much confidence as you can calculate on any 
effect from its known cause. And let me say that all 
external reformation which is not produced in this way, 
is of little value. If it be the effect of correct principles 
united with correct feelings, if it be the fruit of the good 
seed sown in good ground, you may expect not only that 
it will be lasting, but that it will become more and more 
complete. But if it be brought about in any other way, 
let it be apparently ever so promising, you cannot depend 
upon its continuance ; for it has no root in itself; and 
while it does continue, it is, to the Searcher of hearts, 
only a fair covering thrown over a principle of hostility 
and rebellion. 



100 

Moreover, it is the genius of the gospel, that it is in 
the highest degree practical ; for while a cordial belief 
of its truths forms in man the spirit of obedience, it mi- 
nutely prescribes for him a course of external duty, and 
leaves him at no loss in respect to what he ought to do 
in any of the relations of life. Be your rank high or 
low, be the measure of your responsibility comparatively 
great or small, be your circumstances in life what they 
may, open the bible, and here the path of duty is so 
plainly marked out, that you can have no apology for 
mistaking it. It is marked out too by a divine hand, and 
comes to you under the sanction of divine authority. 

Thus I have endeavored to show you that religion 
takes cognizance of the whole man ; that it claims the 
homage of the intellect, the homage of the heart, the 
homage of the life. 

I have discussed this subject, my young friends, the 
rather, as it seems to me that there are some features in 
the religious character of the present age, from which you 
are peculiarly exposed to the adoption of a partial re- 
ligion. The present is an age of controversy ; a period 
in which there are a thousand conflicting opinions in re- 
spect to religious truth ; and there is great reason to fear 
that, instead of referring these opinions to the law and 
the testimony, to ascertain what is right, you will hastily 
conclude from the contradictions and absurdities which 
many of them involve, that none of them can be very 
important, and that there can be no great hazard in re- 
maining unsettled upon a subject which admits of such 
variety of speculation. Or else, on the other hand, 
there is danger that, in the heat of controversy, you will 
attach so much importance to your own opinions, as to 
make you feel that religion is a matter of opinion and 
nothing else ; and that the correctness of your creed may 
atone for the obliquities of your heart or life. The pre- 
sent also is an age of revivals, when the operations of 



II 



101 

the Spirit of God in awakening and converting sinners 
seem to be more powerful and rapid than in ages that 
have gone by ; and there is so much said, and properly 
said too, of the state of the feelings in connexion with 
the evidence of christian character, that you are in dan- 
ger of taking up the delusion that religion is only a set 
of emotions, and that the great end of religion is accom- 
plished in mere animal excitement. Moreover, the 
present is an age of action ; there is a stirring almost 
throughout the church of God, in behalf of the interests 
of Christ's kingdom, such as has never been witnessed 
before ; and there is something so noble in the project of 
extending the gospel through the world, that millions of 
hearts are beating high for its accomplishment. But may 
there not be danger, while you are putting forth your 
hand to this high and holy enterprise, that you will 
come to imagine that what you are doing for others, is 
an apology for what you are neglecting to do for your- 
self ; and that while your hands are so busy in the cause 
of man's salvation, you may be safe in neglecting to as- 
certain the holy truths of the gospel, and in neglecting to 
yield your hearts to their influence ? I advert to these 
dangers, that you may think of them, if you have not ; 
and that you may think more of them, if you have ; for 
if I mistake not, neither their reality, nor their magni- 
tude, admits of question. I counsel you, that you may 
effectually avoid them, to become established in the 
truth ; but remember that, if this is all that your religion 
does for you, it will leave you to perish. Advance far- 
ther, then, and let the truth have its legitimate effect up- 
on your heart ; in melting you into penitence, in reno- 
vating your affections, in imparting to you the spirit of 
adoption — the confidence, the submission, the humility, 
of a child of God. And finally, let the holy principles 
and feelings which you have drawn from the word of 
God, be acted out in the life ; in whatsoever things are 
12 



102 

pure, and lovely, and honest, and of good report. Such 
a character as this would attract the homage of the 
world, the admiration of angels, the benediction of God. 
It would be the pledge of the highest happiness to be en- 
joyed on earth, and of an exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory in heaven. 



LECTURE VII. 

PERSUASIVE TO RELIGION* 



LUKE XIV. 17, 

COME, FOR ALL THINGS ARE KOW READY. 

The parable of which these words are a part, was in- 
tended primarily to illustrate the sovereign grace of God 
in causing the gospel to be first preached to the Jews, 
their contemptuous rejection of it, and its being subse- 
quently offered to the Gentiles. It is susceptible, however, 
of a much more extensive application ; as containing a 
faithful description of the gracious conduct of God to- 
wards all to whom the gospel comes, on the one hand, 
and of the reception which it too often meets in every age, 
on the other. 

The gospel is here represented under the similitude of 
a feast ; and it is the business of Christ's ministers, as it 
was the business of the servants in the parable, to go 
abroad and publish the invitation. It is the design of this 
discourse to bring home this invitation to the hearts of the 
young ; to endeavor to attract them by an exhibition of 
the grace of the gospel, to a compliance with its requisi- 
tions. Let every youth, then, who listens to this dis- 
course, consider himself affectionately addressed in the 
language of the text — " Come, for all things are now 
ready." 



104 

The text obviously suggests two topics : 
The sufficiency of the gospel feast : 
The invitation to the gospel feast. 

Let us attend to them in their order. 

I. The sufficiency of the gospel feast : — " All things 
are now ready." 

This branch of the discourse may be illustrated by 
showing that the gospel makes provision for all the moral 
wants of man. 
Particularly, 

It contemplates him as ignorant, and provides for his 
instruction. There are many truths connected with reli- 
gion, which God may be said to have inscribed on the 
works of his hands ; — truths which relate especially to his 
own existence, character, and government ; and these, no 
doubt, it is within the province of a well-directed reason 
to trace in the contemplation of his works ; but experience 
proves that even these truths, reflected as they are from 
every part of the creation, can yet be completely over- 
looked through the blinding influence of human depravity. 
There are other truths, however, of vital importance to 
man, upon which the book of nature is entirely silent, and 
at which it were impossible for man to arrive in the most 
faithful use of his unassisted powers : these God has been 
pleased to make the subject of a written revelation ; and 
that revelation we have in the gospel. In estimating the 
importance of the gospel as a fountain of knowledge, ob- 
serve how great the advantage which it has over every 
other. Its truths are the most sublime that ever occupied, 
or ever can occupy, the mind of man ; and the contempla- 
tion of them is fitted to exalt all his intellectual and moral 
faculties. They are also intimately blended with his own 
highest interests, both as it respects this world and the 
world to come ; insomuch that G od himself has declared 
that " he that believeth" them " shall be saved, and he 
that believeth" them "not, shall be damned." And 



105 

moreover, they come to us upon the authority of God ; so 
that, in receiving them, we have the highest possible evi- 
dence that we are not embracing a system of error. Say 
now, whither shall man repair for instruction, but to the 
gospel ? Where else can he find truth so sublime, so 
important, so unmixed, as here ? Let him read whatever 
has been written by the wise men of the world, whether 
in ancient or modern times ; and after having wearied 
himself with the endless absurdities and contradictions into 
which they have fallen on the most momentous of all 
subjects, let him return to the gospel, and draw living 
water out of these wells of salvation. Here he will find 
every thing simple, perspicuous, sublime ; — a field in 
which the noblest intellect may expatiate forever, and be 
continually advancing in its discoveries from glory to glory. 
Again : The gospel contemplates man as guilty, and 
provides for his forgiveness. I know that it is possible 
for the voice of conscience to be drowned, in a great de- 
gree, amidst the strife and tumult of the world ; and I 
doubt not that there is a point in depravity beyond which 
conscience becomes powerless in this life, even to warn 
the sinner of his approaching doom : but I know too that 
this principle of conscience makes part of every man's 
moral constitution ; and that it intimates to every one 
more or less distinctly, and more or less frequently, the 
fact that an eternal retribution awaits him ; and that, 
in consequence of being a sinner, he is exposed to the 
displeasure of God. Does he ask reason whether it is 
possible that sin can be forgiven ; and if so, through what 
channel forgiveness can be communicated ? Ah, he has 
consulted reason on a point upon which she has nothing 
to say : and if she speaks, it is only to display her igno- 
rance, or to confess it. But let him resort to the gospel, 
and he will obtain a full solution of the momentous pro- 
blem : here he will find it written by the finger of inspi- 
ration, that God can now " be just, and the justifier of 
him which believeth in Jesus ;" that " God so loved the 



106 

world, that he gaye his only begotten son, that whosoever 
belie veth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." Here is a plan revealed, to the wonder of angels 
as well as of men, by which Jehovah manifests himself at 
once the inflexible Judge, and the merciful Father. No 
matter though his iniquities may have risen mountain-like 
to the heavens ; no matter though he may have been dis- 
tinguished among the most obdurate transgressors, and 
may have persevered in his rebellion long after he had 
seemed ripe for the employments of fiends ; yet his case is 
not so desperate, but that there is an efficacy in the blood 
of Christ to reach it. Whoever will comply with the 
requisitions which the gospel proposes, shall hear a voice 
from the sanctuary of God's grace, saying, " Be of good 
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." 

Farther : The gospel contemplates man as polluted^ 
and provides for his sanctification. Not more true is it 
that man is exposed to the curse of God's law, than that 
his nature is in ruins : he is laboring under a spiritual 
malady, which, unless it is arrested and removed, must 
prove fatal to the soul ; — a malady for which the wisdom 
of the world has long since proved itself inadequate to find 
out a cure. Here again, what reason could not do, the 
gospel has done. All the truths which it reveals, espe- 
cially the great doctrine of redemption by the blood of 
Christ, are fitted to constrain, to exalt, to quicken the 
affections, and to bring the whole soul under a purifying 
influence. But this is not all. God is pleased to ac- 
company the gospel with the direct influence of his Spirit ; 
by which especially the rebellion of the heart is subdued, 
evil affections and desires are eradicated, old things pass 
away, and all things become new. And it is by this in- 
fluence that the work of sanctification is not only begun 
in the soul, but carried forward till it is perfected in glory. 
Here then is a fountain open for sin and uneleanness ; — 
a complete remedy for the disease of man's moral nature 



107 

I observe, once more, that the gospel contemplates man 
as subject to death, and makes provision for his immor- 
tality. I do not say that reason is absolutely dumb on 
the subject of a future existence ; but I do say that, after 
reason has done her utmost to satisfy the anxious inquiries 
of nature on that subject, she has done comparatively 
little ; and even that little has been rather in the way of 
vague conjecture, than positive demonstration. I do say 
that, with all the light that she can shed upon the valley 
of death, it must be, in every case, a dark valley still ; 
and that he who takes her for his guide, must lay in his 
account for a hard conflict with doubt and terror, when 
flesh and heart are failing. Approach the gospel now, 
and see what relief it has to render to the mind struggling 
with apprehension in the attempt to look beyond the 
grave. In the first place, it fully establishes the fact that 
the spirit lives after the body is dead. Then it goes far- 
ther, and opens up the prospect of an exact retribution ; 
describing, so far as the subject falls within the compre- 
hension of man, the miseries of the lost, and the happiness 
of the saved. And finally, it reveals the fact that the 
grave shall ere long give up the dead that are in it ; and 
that the righteous dead shall come forth clothed with a 
body that shall reflect the purity and lustre of the heavens. 
And what is death to the christian, when contemplated in 
the view of truths like these ? What but a passage — a 
rough and stormy passage, if you plea.se — from a region 
of comparative darkness, to a region of perfect light ; from 
a state of trial, and sin, and conflict, to a state of perfect 
holiness, to the possession of a crown of life ! May not 
the believer look down into the grave with triumph, and 
even welcome the ravages of the death-worm, if this be 
only a refining process by which his body is to become 
fitted to bear an eternal weight of glory ? Oh, yes, my 
young friends, the doctrine of immortality, the doctrine of 
the resurrection, is, to the christian, like a star of life rising 
out of the shadows of the tomb. Fixing his eye upon it, 



108 

well may he recline upon his Saviour's breast, and breathe 
his life out sweetly there ! 

II. I have now endeavored to show you that the gospel 
makes provision for all the moral wants of man ; thus 
illustrating the sufficiency of the gospel feast : Let me 
now, secondly, direct your attention to the invitation 
to the gospel feast — " Come." 

As the blessings which are offered in this feast are 
spiritual blessings, so the act by which they are received 
is a spiritual act — the act of faith. To come, therefore, 
in the sense of the text, denotes a cordial acceptance of 
the Lord Jesus Christ in all the glories of his person, and 
in all the benefits of his purchase. But reserving this 
point for distinct consideration in a future discourse, let 
me, under this article, direct your attention to two in- 
quiries : 

1 . To whom is this invitation addressed ? 

It is addressed to the skeptical youth. I am persuaded, 
my young friend, that if you have given up the gospel, 
you have not known what you have been doing ; or if 
you indulge doubts in respect to its divine authority, you 
do so only because you have not been willing to submit 
to an examination of its evidence. And though you are 
afar off, I earnestly call upon you to retrace your steps, 
and to receive not only with the understanding, but the 
heart, this gospel which you seem inclined to put away 
from you. So long as you retain your present ground, if 
the gospel be true, you cannot doubt that your case is 
hopeless ; and you surely ought not to presume that it is 
not true, but upon evidence entirely unexceptionable. 
Come, then, and see whether it be not true. Come and 
subject its claims to divinity to as severe a test as you 
will ; and if you do it with an honest heart, I doubt not 
that the result will be that you will give all your skepti- 
cism to the winds. Come and examine its doctrines, and 
see whether they are not consistent, sublime, adapted in 



109 

every way to the moral wants of man. And while you 
open your understanding to the light of truth, yield your 
heart to its purifying influence ; and then all the rich pro- 
vision which the gospel offers shall become yours. Yes, 
though you have been so ungrateful as to question its 
divinity, and to cavil about its truths, you are invited to 
return and partake of the waters of life as freely as if you 
had never turned your back upon them. 

But this invitation is addressed also to the profligate 
youth. Notwithstanding you are young, you have al- 
ready ventured into the way of the ungodly, and perhaps 
have even sat in the seat of the scorner, and possibly may 
have sunk to a point in profligacy, at which you have 
become reckless even of the woes of perdition. And if, 
at any time, the startling thought of a retribution rises in 
your mind, and you are forced, for a moment, to realize 
that there is a just God in heaven, and that you have 
within you an immortal spirit, which, if unrenewed, is 
destined to fall under his consuming wrath, not improba- 
bly you take refuge from your reflections in the imagined 
hopelessness of your condition ; taking for granted that 
you must remain where you are, and resolving to make 
yourself easy as long as possible. I should belie my own 
convictions if I should say that, in such a case, judging 
from analogy, there is strong ground of hope for a radical 
change of character ; but I should certainly be wanting 
to my duty as a minister of Christ, if I should not proclaim 
even to such a wanderer from God and Heaven, that " the 
blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin ;" if I should not 
sound in his ears the gracious invitation, and the gracious 
encouragement, " Come, for all things are now ready." 
Stop, profligate youth, and retrace the steps you have 
taken in the path to death. Exchange the polluted, gro- 
velling pleasures you are pursuing, for the pure and ele- 
vated joys of a life of piety. Come and accept the provi- 
sion which the gospel offers ; and " though your sins be 
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ;" though your 
K 



110 

name may have stood first on the list of contemners of 
God, it shall be transferred to a place in the Lamb's book 
of life. 

To the mere moral youth, this invitation is also ad- 
dressed. In the providence of God, you have been pre- 
served from casting off the restraints of a religious educa- 
tion ; and have neither been entangled by the arts of 
skepticism, nor allured into the haunts of profligacy. 
Ycu have always maintained a decent respect for divine 
institutions ; and have chosen to be regarded, and actually 
have been, a well-wisher to the general interests of reli- 
gion. But farther than this you have never advanced ; 
and for some reason or other, you seem as well satisfied 
with your present condition, as if you had actually entered 
in at the straight gate, and had even made your calling 
and election sure. It may be that you are building a 
fabric of self-righteousness, which looks beautiful to you, 
and which you imagine will attract the complacent re- 
gards of God. Believe me, you are yielding to delusion ; 
and I call upon you to abandon the delusion, and to come 
without delay to the fountain of salvation which is opened 
in the gospel. A life of mere morality may indeed sub- 
serve the social interests of man in this life ; but it can 
never confer the consolations of a good hope through 
grace : it can never cause you to understand the joy of 
dwelling in the secret place of the Most High : it can 
never furnish a staff to the soul in its passage through the 
dark valley : it can never bring in its train an inheritance 
that is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away. While, therefore, you place a proper estimate upon 
it, as it stands connected with the interests of the present 
world, dare not, for a moment, to rest upon it, as a 
foundation of acceptance with God. Come and exercise 
a living faith in the great Redeemer ; and the morality 
which is the fruit of that faith, though it can never con- 
stitute the ground of your acceptance, may constitute the 
evidence of it. Come without delay ; come now in the 



Ill 

morning of life, else you may soon have formed a con- 
firmed habit of self-righteousness ; and such a habit once 
formed, is less likely than almost any other to be broken 
up ; and unless it is broken up, it will as effectually and 
as certainly destroy you as infidelity or immorality. 

The baptized youth also has a special interest in this 
invitation. Your parents, while you were yet incapable 
of acting for yourselves, dedicated you to God in holy 
baptism ; and entered into a solemn covenant with him, 
to train you up for his service and glory. We trust 
they have redeemed the baptismal pledge, and that by 
their instructions, and example, and prayers, they have 
done their utmost to turn your feet into the path to 
heaven. But know, my young friends, that though you 
were not active in the solemn transaction in which you 
were devoted to God, you had a material interest in it, 
notwithstanding ; and this act of your parents, performed 
in obedience to God's command, has imposed upon you a 
weighty obligation, now that you are capable of acting 
for yourselves, to bring to his service the full vigor of 
your faculties and affections. Come then, ye children 
and youth, who, at these altars of God, have received 
the seal of his gracious covenant ; ye who have been 
dandled on the knee of piety, and counselled by the lips 
of fond affection, and instructed in respect to your dan- 
ger and duty, and in whose behalf a thousand parental 
prayers have gone up into the ear of mercy — is there 
nothing in all this to constrain your hearts to accept the 
gracious invitation of the gospel ? Is there nothing in 
the thought that you are the children of the church, that 
you have been born and nurtured in her bosom, and per- 
mitted to enjoy so many of her privileges, that comes to 
you as a rebuke for not having yet received Christ as 
your Saviour, and publicly recognized your obligations 
to his love ? Delay no longer to accept the blessings of 
salvation ; for though there is nothing in the fact of your 
having been dedicated to God, which can furnish the 



112 

shadow of a ground of your acceptance with him, there 
is that in it which mightily increases your obligation, and 
which, if you perish i will mightily enhance your con- 
demnation. 

The other inquiry to which I proposed to direct your 
attention under this article, is, 

2. From whom does this invitation come 1 
It comes from the church on earth. It is the most 
ardent wish of God's people, and especially of your 
christian friends, that you should enter without delay on 
a life of religion. They follow you into the world with 
an eye of watchful and tender regard ; and when you 
think not of it, they are often sending up prayers for you 
in secret, that you may be found in the way of God's 
commandments. When your pious parents see you im- 
mersed in worldly vanities, asking no questions with so 
much interest as u how you shall decorate your persons, 
or how you shall recommend yourselves most to the gay 
and worldly," their hearts often sink within them ; and 
especially, if they are about to depart into eternity, and 
leave you with such dispositions, it adds a bitter pang to 
the scene of separation ; and they wish to cling to life 
yet a little longer, that they may offer a few more prayers, 
and use a few more exertions, for the everlasting inte- 
rests of their children. And not only your parents and 
other pious friends, but the church among whom your 
lot is cast, are, as a body, interested for your conversion, 
and are anxiously waiting to see you come out from an 
ungodly world, and subscribe with your own hand to the 
Lord. They tell you that there is room enough within 
their sacred enclosure for all of you, and for as many as 
will enter ; and they stand ready to greet you with a 
joyful welcome at the table of communion, and to take 
you by the hand, as fellow-travellers on the way to 
heaven. Yes, and others whom you have never seen, 
even the people of God who dwell in distant lands, and 
in the islands of the sea — the whole church militant, 



113 

may be considered as sending you an invitation, to join 
their community and partake of their joys. 

From the redeemed in glory, the same invitation comes 
to you. They know what it is to have been sinners, 
and what it is to have been saved ; and the benevolence of 
their glorified nature leads them to regard with intense 
interest, the salvation of sinners on earth. And is it not 
reasonable to suppose that this is especially true in re- 
spect to those with whom they have here been associated 
in the endearing relations of life ? Every one of the 
innumerable throng of the redeemed calls upon you to 
come ; but there are those in that blessed assembly, who 
call with peculiar affection and earnestness, and who 
plead with you by the remembrance of other days, who 
would raise the loudest note of thanksgiving on your re- 
turn to God, and would be the first to greet you on your 
arrival in heaven. Is there no child in this assembly, 
who once had a mother who counselled him, and in- 
structed him, and prayed for him, and finally died, leav- 
ing him asleep over the interests of his soul ? That 
mother, we doubt not, is, at this moment, a glorified spi- 
rit, and is casting her crown at the Redeemer's feet, 
mingling in the hosannas and hallelujahs of heaven. But 
think you that she has forgotten her child, because she 
has reached her destined home ? My young friend, 
whoever you are, that glorified parent remembers you 
still ; and from the third heaven, bids you form and ex- 
ecute the purpose of giving your heart to God ; and in- 
vites you to prepare to mingle with her in the glories to 
which she has already been admitted. I am aware that 
this is a subject on which it becomes us to speak with 
caution, because we know but little ; but I am sure it is 
comformable to the dictates of reason, and according to 
the analogy of experience, and certainly not contrary to 
the spirit of God's word, that the news of such a con- 
version as I have supposed, would, in some way or 
other, be conveyed to heaven, and would cause the 
K2 



114 

grateful exclamation to burst from the lips of that glo- 
rified parent, " This my child who was dead, is alive 
again ; who was lost, is found ; who seemed ripe for the 
employments of hell, is destined to sit on one of these 
thrones of glory for ever and ever." 

The angels of light echo the same invitation. Our 
Saviour has taught us explicitly, that there is joy 
among the angels, when one sinner repenteth : of course, 
they desire that there may be occasions for this joy. 
They do not indeed know by experience the misery of 
being sinners : they have never felt the burden of pollu- 
tion, the agony of remorse, the fearful apprehension of 
God's eternal wrath : but still they are not ignorant of 
the degradation and ruin that sin brings in its train ; and 
they earnestly desire to see the heir of hell changed into 
the heir of heaven ; not only because this change secures 
to the sinner everlasting life, but because it reflects a new 
lustre on Christ's mediation, and brings a revenue of 
glory to God in the highest. They are ministering spi- 
rits to the righteous ; and they offer themselves, on con- 
dition of your repentance, to be ministering spirits to 
you ; to watch over you in danger, to succor you in 
temptation, to stand by you in death, and to conduct you 
to glory. Yes, unworthy as you are, ignorant, guilty, 
polluted as you are, the angels do not regard you as be- 
neath their notice : they bid you arise and come away 
from these polluted joys, and dress yourself in the robes 
of the Redeemer's righteousness, that you may be found 
worthy at last to join their communion. 

And above all, Jehovah himself sends you this invi- 
tation — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

Against the Father of all mercies, your conduct hither- 
to has been a course of the most inexcusable rebellion. 
Nevertheless, he waits to be gracious ; and he declares 
himself ready to forgive all your iniquities, and to sanc- 
tify you from all your pollution. He beholds you at a 
distance, wandering, prodigal children, and in the fulness 



115 

of his compassion, bids you return to your Father's 
house, and opens the store-house of his everlasting 
bounty, to allure you away from the husks of worldly 
vanity and pleasure. He declares himself ready, on 
your return, to adopt you as his children ; to confer up- 
on you the spirit and the privileges of children ; and as 
a proof of his sincerity, he points you to the cross on 
which the blessings of redemption were purchased, and 
solemnly asks, whether he w T ho spared not his own Son, 
but gave him to die for your sakes, shall not with him 
also, provided you receive him as your Saviour, freely 
give you all things ? And is it so, that the great God, 
from the throne of his glory, condescends to expostulate 
with you to accept of his salvation ? Who of you will 
dare to trifle with such amazing condescension, by de- 
laying your acceptance of it for a single hour ? 

Jesus Christ , the Saviour of the lost, also invites you. 
The invitation in the text was originally uttered by him ; 
and it was left on record for your benefit and acceptance. 

It is echoed from the manger in which he was born ; 
from the scenes of poverty and suffering in which he had 
not w T here to lay his head ; from the garden in which he 
endured his agony ; from the cross on which he yielded 
up his life ; from the tomb in which his body was laid ; 
and it is echoed still, amid the intercessions which he 
presents in behalf of his people before the throne of the 
eternal Majesty. Yes, my young friends, it is not only the 
suffering and dying, but the glorified and reigning Saviour, 
who sends you this invitation : by his bloody baptism on 
the one hand, and by the glories of his exaltation on the 
other, he condescends to plead with you to attend to your 
immortal interests. I bring you the invitation in his 
name ; and if you turn away from it with cold and 
scornful indifference, I ask you " what evil hath He 
done," that he should receive such treatment at your 
hand; and I ask again, "how" will you " escape, if 
you neglect so great salvation ?" 



116 

From the Spirit of grace, also, this invitation comes 
to you. Open your bible, and wherever you find the 
invitation recorded, it is the Spirit of God that speaks in 
it. And it is the same divine agent, communicating the 
same gracious invitation, in the dispensations of provi- 
dence, in scenes of affliction, in the operations of con- 
science, and under the preaching of the word. Recur, 
for a moment, my young friend, to your past experience. 
When you stood by the grave of your father, or mo- 
ther, or some other near friend, and felt your heart throb 
at the reflection that that friend would slumber on in that 
dark abode for ages, did not something whisper in your 
ear a lesson concerning the uncertainty of the world, 
and the importance of religion ? Believe me, in that 
dispensation, the Spirit was inviting you to become a 
partaker of heavenly joys. When sickness had withered 
your energies, and death seemed to stare you in the face, 
and you thought with horror of the world of retribution, 
did not the fearful question come up with an interest of 
which you had never before conceived — * u What shall 
a man give in exchange for his soul ?" I tell you, there 
again, the Spirit of God was admonishing you to take off 
your affections from this shadowy world, and seek su- 
perior bliss ? When the truth of God has been pro- 
claimed in your hearing with pungency and power, has 
it not sometimes come home to your heart with strong 
impression, and made the interests of eternity appear, for 
a moment, to be all in all ? That moment, rely on it, 
the Holy Spirit was saying unto you, u Come, for all 
things are now ready." And how has this invitation, 
conveyed to you through these various channels, been 
treated ? Ah, I appeal to you, whether, when you had put 
off' the weeds of mourning with which the death of your 
friend had covered you, you did not forget the monitory 
call to which perhaps you thought you would attend : 
or whether, when you were raised up from the bed of 
sickness, you did not leave all your serious impressions 



117 

behind you, and come rushing back upon the vanities 
and gayeties of life : or whether, when you passed out at 
yonder door, after being affected by some melting exhi- 
bition of divine truth, you did not fall into some trifling 
conversation with some gay companion, and thus put 
your conscience into as profound a slumber as ever ? In 
either of these cases, my young friend, you turned a 
deaf ear, you absolutely rejected the Spirit's invitation. 
I charge you, as you value your immortal soul, never to 
repeat the fearful experiment. 

Behold then, who they are that are interested for your 
salvation, and are urging you to secure it ! The church 
on earth, and the church in heaven ; the angels of light, 
and God over all blessed for ever ; unitedly send you an 
invitation this day, to come and take the waters of life 
freely. If you refuse and finally perish, wonder not if 
you should hereafter hear them unitedly shouting " Hal- 
lelujah," as the smoke of your torment ascendeth up for 
ever and ever ! 



i 



LECTURE VIII. 

EXCUSES FOR THE NEGLECT OF RELIGION 



LUKE XIV, 

HEE, HAVE 3IE EXCUSED 

The great principles of human nature, though modi- 
fied in their operation by circumstances, are substantially 
the same in all ages. Hence there is a considerable de- 
gree of uniformity in the manner in which the gospel is 
treated, at different periods, and by all classes. When 
the invitation was sent abroad by the man who had 
made a feast, instead of being cordially and thankfully 
accepted, the servants returned, charged with the most 
flimsy and foolish apologies. When the apostles went 
forth and preached the gospel to. the Jewish nation, here 
again there were reasons, or rather excuses, offered for 
not accepting it ; and they were even more preposterous 
than those by which they were represented in the pa- 
rable. And so too when the servants of the Lord Jesus, 
at the present day, go forth proclaiming a universal invi- 
tation to the gospel feast, and tell sinners of the rich pro- 
vision made for them, and of the expense at which it 
has been made, Oh how often are they virtually an- 
swered in the language which you have just heard — " I 
pray thee, have me excused." Lend me your attention 
then, my young friends, while, from this passage, I en- 
deavor to show you how perfectly futile are the excuses 



120 

with which, from time to time, you are putting off the 
claims of religion. I am aware that most of the ex- 
cuses which I shall notice are urged by others as well as 
youth ; but while I would commend the subject to the 
serious consideration of all, I desire that you especially 
would ponder it with earnest attention and self-application. 
What then, my young friends, are some of the ex- 
cuses, by which you are attempting to keep conscience 
quiet in the neglect of religion ? 

1. The first which I shall notice is, that it is impos- 
sible, amidst all the conflicting opinions which exist on 
the subject of religion, to ascertain what religion is ; and 
hence it is inferred that they are the most prudent, who 
trouble themselves with it the least. 

That there are different opinions in respect to religion, 
admits not of question : the world is full of contradic- 
tory speculations on this subject ; and some of the gross- 
est absurdities which the human mind ever conceived, 
have been found in systems of doctrine professedly de- 
rived from the word of God. If indeed you were re- 
quired to frame a system of truth for yourelf , out of ma- 
terials supplied by the various systems of religion in the 
world, without recourse to higher authority, you might 
well complain that it was an unreasonable and embar- 
rassing requisition ; and that your best efforts to come at 
the truth must result in nothing better than conjecture. 
But no such task is imposed upon you. You have ac- 
cess to the very fountain of divine knowledge : you are 
not only permitted, but required, to search the scriptures 
for yourself, using the writings of uninspired men only 
as helps to enable you to ascertain the mind of the Spi- 
rit. And you cannot plead as an apology for neglecting 
to search the scriptures, that there is any lack of expli- 
citness in respect to the great truths which they reveal ; 
for the Bible was designed equally for all ; and of course 
for the poor and illiterate, who constitute a large part of 



4 121 

mankind ; and to suppose that its leading doctrines are 
hid under a mass of obscure and technical phraseology, 
were to charge the adorable Author of this revelation 
with trifling w^ith the wants of his creatures. What 
then, my young friend, becomes of your excuse for neg- 
lecting religion, that you cannot ascertain what religion 
is ? Open your Bible, and you will there find what it is, 
written in letters of light — all its great doctrines and pre- 
cepts so perfectly intelligible, that the most simple and 
unlettered need not mistake them. 

But suppose we admit that there are some things in 
the Bible which are hard to be understood — and to a cer- 
tain extent no doubt this is true — but is this a reason 
why you should reject or disregard ichat is plain ? Does 
the fact that you may not easily comprehend all the rea- 
sonings of Paul on the doctrine of justification, or all 
the allusions of the inspired writers to the then existing 
state of things, furnish any apology for your neglecting 
those plain precepts which require you to repent of your 
sins, and exercise faith in the atonement of Christ ? Be- 
fore you plead the obscurity of the Bible as a ground for 
neglecting religion, you must, to be consistent, show 
yourself ready to receive the truths which you cannot 
but acknowledge are clearly revealed ; and ready to prac- 
tise the duties which you cannot fail to perceive are ex- 
plicitly enjoined. 

Say not then any longer, my young friend, that you do 
not know what religion is. If you do not know, rely 
on it, it is your own fault. In giving you the revelation 
of his Son, God has not been mocking your necessities, 
by saying one thing, and meaning another. Will such 
an excuse as this stand the test of the final day ? Is 
there one among you, who would not shudder at the 
thought of standing before the omniscient Judge with 
such an apology ? 

L 



122 

2. Youth often excuse themselves for the neglect of 
religion, on the ground that it is gloomy ; — that it throws 
a damp on all the joys of life. This certainly is a very 
serious charge, and deserves to be particularly examined. 

Suppose, however, that this representation were just, 
I would still maintain that it did not amount even to the 
semblance of an apology for neglecting religion ; for it is 
never to be forgotten that it is religion, and that only, 
that saves the soul from eternal death, and secures to it 
everlasting life and glory. What then though religion 
were that chilling and comfortless thing which its ene- 
mies would sometimes represent it ; what though it did 
require us to sacrifice all the enjoyments of social life, or 
even to undergo the most painful penance — the severest 
lacerations that nature can bear ; what would all this be, 
compared with the loss of the immortal soul ; — the tor- 
tures of the never-dying worm ; — the ceaseless convul- 
sions of the second death ? I say then, that let religion 
require of us whatever present sacrifices it might, that 
man would be a fool who would not rather make 
them than expose himself to the agonies of perdition : 
for in the one case, the poor and pitiful pleasures of a 
moment, would be succeeded by scenes of undying an- 
guish and despair : in the other, the privations and suf- 
ferings of this short life would be followed by everlast- 
ing ages of glory. Admitting this charge, therefore, 
which you bring against religion, in its full extent, we 
maintain that your conduct in neglecting it, is, on prin- 
ciples of reason, utterly indefensible. 

But let us see whether there be any validity in this 
charge ; whether it can be sustained either on the ground 
of reason, or on the ground of experience. 

I admit indeed that the process preparatory to the si?i- 
ner^s conversion is often a very painful one, and is always 
accompanied by serious reflection and deep anxiety : for 
it were impossible that a soul should wake to its condi- 
tion as lost, and exposed to the wrath of God, and re- 



123 

main unaffected by the woes of that condition. But 
this, though indispensable as a preparative for becoming 
religious, is not religion itself ; and it were not more ab- 
surd to talk against the blessing of health, because the 
sick man must submit to some unpleasant prescriptions 
in order to regain it, than to condemn religion as gloomy, 
because you cannot partake its joys till you have felt the 
burden of conviction, and drank of the bitter waters of 
repentance. 

Moreover, I am willing to admit that there are some 
gloomy christians ; — persons who really have the love of 
God in their hearts, who are yet subject through life to a 
deep and settled melancholy. But this, instead of proving 
that religion is the parent of gloom, only proves either 
that some of the truths of religion are misapprehended, 
and thus perverted to minister to a gloomy habit, or else 
that the principle of religion is too feeble in its operations 
to counteract the various causes which may produce this 
effect. Nothing can be more unjust than to make reli- 
gion answerable for the existence of evils, which, on ac- 
count of the limited influence it has gained over the 
heart, it does not remove. Moreover, it admits of no 
question, that what is called religious depression is often 
to be referred to constitutional temperament, and the ope- 
ration of other physical causes. So far as religion is 
concerned with it at all, it may safety be said that it is 
not religion, but the want of it, which operates to pro- 
duce this effect. 

In speaking of the delightful influence which religion 
is fitted to exert on the heart, I am aware that we labor 
under one disadvantage : it is, that we are supposed to 
be speaking to persons who are not only strangers to the 
joys of religion, but who actually have no relish for 
them. But if I mistake not, even such persons, if they 
would examine the gospel impartially, would find in it 
no tendency to a spirit of gloom. The gospel does in- 
deed announce to man his ruined and wretched state ; 



124 

but then it does nothing towards bringing him into that 
state, but on the contrary, it makes provision to bring 
him out of it. It cannot be denied that it speaks to the 
impenitent sinner the language of terror ; but its practi- 
cal tendency is to be estimated by its effect on those who 
do, and not upon those who do not, yield their hearts to 
its influence. And now let me ask you, what there is 
in it which is adapted to diffuse gloom over a sanctified 
soul? Is there anything in the character of God — in 
his wisdom, goodness, mercy, or holiness, which is fitted 
to damp the christian's joys r Is there any thing gloomy 
in the thought that wherever he may be, he is surrounded 
by Jehovah's watchful care ; and that even the most ap- 
parently untoward dispensations will finally redound to 
his greatest benefit ? Is the glorious work of redemp- 
tion by Christ — that work in which all the amiable and 
venerable attributes of the Godhead shine forth with 
transcendent lustre, fitted to shed mildew on the best 
comforts of the soul ? Is there the semblance of gloom 
in the precious promises of the gospel ; — in the promise 
that Jehovah will guide the christian by his counsel ; 
that he will sustain him in the valley of death ; and 
finally be his everlasting portion ? If these and other 
kindred subjects are not fitted to dispel gloom, and in- 
spire the soul with serenity and cheerfulness, I ask what 
subjects are adapted to produce this effect ? The gospel 
then is not calculated to make men gloomy— how is it 
in experience. 

I speak not here of those who merely bear the name 
of christians, but of those in whom religion is a living, 
acting, reigning principle ; and of such I venture to say, 
that they are more consistently and uniformly cheerful 
than any other class. I do not mean that you will find 
them throwing themselves into the current of worldly 
levities ; but I mean, that in all the various circumstances 
of life, you may see in them a dignified cheerfulness, 
equally remote from an unsocial austerity, or forbidding 



125 

gloom, on the one hand, and from a spirit of gay frivo- 
lity, on the other. Place such a person in the humble 
walks of life, and if you please, let the night clouds of 
adversity gather around him, and let him see one friend 
after another carried to the grave, and one fountain of 
earthly comfort after another dried up, till, to the eye of 
sense, his last hold of earthly enjoyment seems to be 
broken ; and tell me whether you can imagine that peace 
and even joy can find its way into such a scene as this 
I tell } T ou, my young friend, that that christian is not be- 
reft of consolation, though he may be bereft of every 
thing else : amidst all this desolation without, there is 
a peace that passeth understanding within : there is a 
holy confidence in God, a hope sure and stedfast, which 
is an anchor to the soul amidst all the storms of trouble 
that beat upon it. I speak not here, blessed be God, of 
rare occurrences ; and I doubt not that some such cases 
as that which I have supposed, may have come under 
your observation ; that you may have seen christian faith 
rising and triumphing under a weight of calamity which 
seemed to you absolutely insupportable. Surely, then, 
if religion is gloomy, she imparts no such influence in 
the day of adversity. She has, at least, one bright side ; 
one friendly, helping hand, to wipe away the tears from 
the eye of the mourner, and to carry consolation to the 
heart, whose sorrows the world is utterly powerless to 
assuage. 

But there is another and still darker scene through 
which we must all pass, in which religion is, by no 
means, an idle attendant. It is in that hour when all the 
poor helps that nature can yield us, are failing, and the 
soul that has not God for its refuge, is put upon its own 
naked resources, that religion most triumphantly refutes 
the charge of being gloomy. Did you ever, my young 
friend, see a christian dying in the exercise of a strong 
and elevated faith ? Then I venture to say, you do not 
in your heart believe this charge against religion, which 
L2 



4 ?JF r '" 



126 

I am considering. Draw nigh, ye incredulous ones, who 
have been accustomed to regard Christianity as only the 
damper of human joy ; — draw nigh to that scene of 
mingled agony and triumph, in which a disciple of Jesus 
is taking his departure for the eternal world ? What 
now is the world any longer to him ? And what can it 
do for him, in this hour of his extremity ? Nothing. 
The chill damps of death are already upon his counte- 
nance ; and the sinking, fluttering pulse proclaims that 
the conflict with the destroyer has begun. Friends may 
weep and break their hearts around his dying bed ; though 
even they can do nothing to enable him to retain his hold 
on life a single hour. But amidst all the complicated 
natural horrors of the death scene, you may see that 
christian fearless and joyful. You may behold a linger- 
ing smile of triumph on the countenance over which the 
icy hand of the king of terrors is passing ; and perhaps 
you may hear the praises of redeeming love — the ho- 
sannas of an almost disenthralled spirit, trembling on the 
tongue which, a few moments hence, will be motionless 
in death. iVnd will you say, after all this, that religion 
is the parent of gloom ? Go then to the dying bed of 
the sinner, and contrast what you have just seen with 
what you will there see : go and mark the phrenzied 
look, and listen to the frantic exclamation, and measure, 
if you can, the woes that are clustering on that departing 
spirit ; and then say, if it is a gloomy thing to die with 
religion, what is it to die without it ? 

Thus I have endeavored to expose the fallacy of the 
plea that religion is gloomy, by showing that, if the 
charge were true, it would amount to no apology for the 
neglect of it ; because it is this alone which secures our 
eternal happiness : but that, so far from being gloomy, it 
is in itself essentially a system of consolation ; and that 
all experience proves that it yields support which can be 
derived from no other source, and in circumstances in 
which every thing else is completely unavailing. 



127 

And has not enough been said under this article to 
remove the delusion, if it has existed in any of your minds, 
that religion is too grave a concern for the buoyant spirits 
of youth ; that though old age, or even manhood, may 
reasonably enough be brought under its claims, yet the 
young have a fair right to be exempted. Believe me, my 
young friend, there is nothing in religion that renders it 
unsuitable to your period of life. Its tendency is, not to 
repress the ardor of youth, but to give a right direction to 
it ; not to dry up the sources of youthful enjoyment, but 
to enlarge and purify them. If you are told that, in be- 
coming religious, you must yield yourself a victim to 
melancholy, believe not the slander for a moment. Be 
assured, on the other hand, that the "ways' 3 of piety 
u are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." 

3. Another excuse which youth, in common with 
others, often plead for the neglect of religion, is drawn 
from the infirmities and failings of professed christians. 
These are often triumphantly pointed at as evidence that 
religion does not make men the better, and as an argument 
for treating it with indifference, if not with. contempt. 

But admit the fact that many who profess religion 
apostatize, and many others, in various ways, dishonor a 
christian professon, and all discover remains of moral cor- 
ruption — Before you can use this as an argument to dis- 
prove the truth of the gospel, you must he able to show 
that the gospel has either expressly, or by implication, 
declared that all who profess their faith in it are sincere 
christians ; in other words, that there is no such charac- 
ter as a hypocrite. But the gospel has made no such 
declaration : on the contrary, it was the master's own 
prediction that the tares and the wheat should be found 
together ; and it is agreeable to the uniform tenor of the 
gospel, that christians in the present life are sanctified but 
in part. The alleged fact, then, of the imperfections of 
professed christians, instead of being an argument against 



128 

the truth of our religion, furnishes strong presumptive 
evidence in its favor ; because it exactly verifies the de- 
clarations which the gospel has made in respect to the 
character of its professors. 

But this notion which I am endeavoring to expose, is 
as much at war with common sense, as with scripture. 
Is it rational to infer from the fact that there was a Judas 
in the family of our Lord, that the disciples were all no- 
thing better than a band of traitors ? Or because there 
are professors of religion, at the present day, who prove 
themselves hypocrites, are we hence to infer that there 
are none in whom religion has its genuine operation ? Or 
that the gospel itself is only a miserable forgery ? What 
would you say of that kind of reasoning which should 
infer that the science of medicine or law was only a piece 
of imposture, from the fact that some men professing a 
knowledge of it were quacks or deceivers ; or which 
should make every individual in the profession responsible 
for the ignorance or mismanagement of a few of its mem- 
bers ? The truth is, that common sense decides that the 
character of each professed christian is to be judged inde- 
pendently of every other ; and that the character of the 
gospel is to be estimated by its practical tendency. Ex- 
amine the gospel, then, and see whether it does not con- 
demn sin in every form, and in every class ; and in no 
class more explicitly than in those who profess to be the 
followers of Christ : and in view of this fact, say whether 
the imputation which I am considering is not a foul slander 
on our holy religion. 

And what, after all, is the amount of the fact alleged in 
this charge against religion ? It is only that some of its 
professors dishonor the christian name ; while it virtually 
admits (and certainly the most unblushing malice against 
the gospel cannot deny) that a considerable proportion of 
them adorn their profession by a holy life. And if the 
instances of apostacy, or lamentable declension, which 
occur among professing christians, "prove that religion is 



129 

all a cheat, I ask, what, on the other hand, is proved by 
the fact that so large a number persevere, and exhibit, to 
the close of life, a holy conversation and deportment ? 
The truth is, that the former of these facts proves nothing 
against religion in any way ; for it is not to religion, but 
to the absence of it, that it is to be referred : whereas the 
latter furnishes decisive evidence that religion does exert 
a benign and controlling influence over the heart and life. 
Say now, my young friend, will you dare to plead this 
apology for the neglect of religion any longer ? Is it not 
a reflection upon your reason that you should have ever 
ventured to plead it all ? That there are false professors 
we admit ; but your situation as a sinner is just as alarm- 
ing, as if there were not a false professor on earth. They 
indeed will suffer a tremendous doom : but whatever that 
may be, certain it is that the Bible denounces tribulation 
and anguish upon you ; and if you continue in your pre- 
sent course, you may find, when it is too late to profit by 
the discovery, that the time you had spent in cavilling 
about the imperfections of professors, had been far better 
employed in mourning over your own sins, and gaining an 
interest in the great salvation, 

4. The plea of inability is also urged to justify the 
neglect of religion. 

I would ask the person who urges this plea, in the first 
place, whether he really believes that he has done every 
thing toward the work of his renovation, that is in his 
power ? Have you reflected daily and habitually on your 
guilt and danger, and stedfastly resisted the temptations of 
the world, and sought intercourse with God's people, and 
availed yourself of every means within your power for 
becoming acquainted with your true condition and cha- 
racter, and yielding up your heart to God ? And have you 
persevered in this course up to the present hour ? If 
your conscience does not tell you that you have actually 
left nothing undone which it was in your power to do 



130 

towards the work of your salvation, then you have no 
right to urge the plea of inability. Nor have you a right, 
even in that case, to urge it ; for who has told you, if 
your past efforts have been unavailing, that a persevering 
repetition of them may not accomplish the great object to 
which they are directed. If it is ever to be urged with 
even a semblance of plausibility, it must be in the last 
moments of your life, after all that has been in your power 
has been done, and to no purpose. 

But this plea may be shown to be false in another way. 
The whole duty of man is summarily comprehended in 
love to God. But the reason why the sinner does not 
exercise this love, is not because he is destitute of affec- 
tions ; for he actually bestows them on objects innumera- 
ble, and infinitely less deserving of them than God. Nor 
is it because, in the exercise of these affections, he has not 
all the powers of a moral agent ; for in all his moral ex- 
ercises, he is conscious of perfect freedom. He can love 
the world with intense affection ; and he can roll sin as a 
sweet morsel under his tongue : but when the most glo- 
rious being in the universe claims the homage of his heart, 
he coldly refuses the offering, and shelters himself behind 
the plea of inability. And what is the obvious construc- 
tion of this conduct ? Why manifestly this — that he is so 
bitter an enemy to holiness, and has such a cordial aversion 
to the character of God, that he cannot be reconciled to 
him. What would you think if your neighbor should 
insult you with such an apology for an injury he had done 
you ? What would you think of the wretch who had 
burnt down your dwelling, or the assassin who had mur- 
dered your father, that should enter a court of justice, and 
plead his innocence on the ground of his malevolence to- 
wards your family ? And think you that such an apology 
as this will satisfy the great God for the contempt poured 
upon his character ? You surely dare not think of carry- 
ing this excuse to the judgment, unless you have made up 
your mind to encounter the agonies of perdition. 



131 

But if this plea were admitted, look at the consequences 
to which it would lead. If that kind of inability which 
consists in a simple aversion to the character and service 
of God, justifies the sinner in opposition to his character, 
and in declining his service, w r e arrive instantly at the 
absurd conclusion, that the more a man hates God, the 
less guilty he is ; and he that hates him with perfect ha- 
tred, is perfectly innocent. 

Moreover, this plea is not only false and preposterous, 
but, in the highest degree, insincere. Could you hear 
the honest language of the sinner's heart, at the very 
moment this plea is upon his lips, it would be that he did 
not believe a word of it. For observe that this plea pro- 
ceeds upon the supposition that heaven and hell are reali- 
ties : the plea itself is nothing less than that he who offers 
it, is exposed every hour to suffer the pangs of the second 
death ; and yet that by the iron bars of fate, he is pre- 
vented from making his escape. If your dwelling were 
on fire, and some wretch had chained you down in such 
circumstances that you could not escape the devouring 
element, would you amuse yourself with the awful gran- 
deur of the scene, or would you be distracted with terror 
at the anticipated horrors of the death that awaited you ? 
When we find you frantic with agony while you are 
offering this plea, we may acknowledge that there is at 
least some appearance of sincerity ; but till then, wonder 
not if we regard the plea as merely the suggestion of a 
spirit of rebellion. 

But do you inquire whether the work of your salvation 
is to depend entirely on yourself: and whether the Spirit 
of God has nothing to do in bringing you to repentance ? 
I answer, the Spirit has a most important part to perform 
in this great work ; insomuch that without his agency, it 
would never be accomplished. But the Spirit, in his 
operations, contemplates you as active ; and if you remain 
with your arms folded, waiting for a visit from this divine 
agent, you may expect to wait till you die, and then die 



pp 



132 

in your sins. The way to enlist his renewing influences 
in your behalf, is to arise, and shake off your sluggishness, 
and plead mightily with God to have mercy upon you. 

5 . The only remaining excuse for the neglect of religion 
which I shall notice, is, that there is time enough yet. 

And what is it y my young friend, for which you are so 
sure that you have time enough remaining ? Is it merely 
a momentary turning of your thoughts away from the 
world, or yielding yourself for an hour to the impression 
of eternal things, or performing a little lip service which 
you call prayer, or doing the drudgery of a few external 
duties ? Oh no, it is nothing like this : it is the breaking 
off right hand sins : it is the mortification of evil affec- 
tions : it is the yielding up the whole heart to God : it is 
the consecration of the whole man to his service and 
glory. And is this a work of so small moment that you 
can safely put it off to another day, on the ground that 
there is time enough yet for the performance of it ? 

Besides, let it not be forgotten that religion lays its de- 
mands upon all your faculties and affections, through every 
moment of your existence. Have you time enough then 
for doing that hereafter which devolves upon you at this 
moment, when each future moment will bring with it its 
own appropriate duties ? If all that you can possibly do 
in the next hour, is demanded of you during that hour, 
how will you find time then for doing the duties which 
devolve upon you now ? Perhaps, however, you only 
mean that there is time enough yet — that is, some more 
convenient season than the present — for exercising that 
repentance of sin which is necessary to secure your sal- 
vation. 

But there are two things of which you ought to feel 
absolutely assured, before you make up your mind to defer 
repentance to any future period. In the first place, in order 
to justify such a resolution, you must be certain of the 
continuance of life. You must have gained an assurance 



133 

that, notwithstanding the arrows of death are thickly 
flying around you, and every day numbers its victims for 
the tomb ; yet, amidst all this desolation, your life, for 
some indefinite period, shall Certainly be preserved. And 
this you must know on the authority of Him in whose 
hand your breath is ; for He only who fixes the bounds 
of our habitation, is competent to assure you of the con- 
tinuance of life even for a moment. And then again, you 
must be assured that God will grant you grace to repent, 
and will accept your repentance at a future day. You 
must be able to point to some declaration in the Bible, 
which makes it certain that the Holy Spirit, whose in- 
fluences you now resist, will hereafter visit your soul 
again ; and if he should, that you will be more disposed 
to cherish his influences than you are now. But on both 
these points, you cannot but know that the evidence is 
all against you. There is a voice from a thousand graves, 
admonishing you that you cannot presume on the con- 
tinuance of life, even till to-morrow ; and there is the 
practical testimony of many a sinner, whose heart, by 
procrastination, has become as hard as the nether mill- 
stone, that in calculating on the future efficacious opera- 
tions of the Holy Spirit, you have all probability against 
you. 

But if you persevere in saying that there is time enough 
yet, let me ask you to define the particular period which 
you have allotted to the performance of this work. Is it 
the period of middle age 1 Look then, I pray you, to the 
man who has actually reached that period, and judge can- 
didly whether his advantages for becoming religious are 
increased beyond what they were in the season of youth. 
Is there any thing in the pressure of worldly care, in the 
claims of a rising family, in the numerous and distracting 
demands upon time, which that period so commonly 
brings with it, that is favorable to the work of repentance 
— a work which demands reflection , and self-communion, 
and abstraction from the world. And if middle age does 
M 



134 

not furnish better advantages than youth for becoming 
religious, let me ask again, is it more likely to bring with 
it the disposition ? Is it in accordance with the known 
principles of human nature, that a habit of any kind should 
grow weaker by being cherished ? Or may not the exact 
opposite of this be anticipated, with as much confidence 
as any effect can be looked for from its appropriate cause ? 
And if experience be consulted, where are the individuals 
to testify that familiarity with the world has strengthened 
the resolution or the desire to become religious ? No, my 
young friends, the difference between the period to which 
you are looking forward, and that through which you are 
now passing, is altogether in favor of the latter : If, there- 
fore, you leave the season of youth strangers to religion, 
it is more than probable, if your life should be spared, 
that you will leave the season of manhood with the same 
character. 

But possibly when you say that there is time enough 
yet, you are looking forward to a period still more dis- 
tant — to the season of old age, I cannot forbear saying, 
at the outset, that it is only possible that you may live to 
that period ; the chances, according to the principles of 
human calculation, being altogether against you. But 
suppose, by a comparatively rare dispensation, your life 
should be protracted even to fourscore years, I ask you 
what there will be in your condition then to facilitate the 
great work to which I am urging you ? With a mind 
not improbably broken by age, or paralyzed by disease ; 
with habits which have been the regular growth of almost 
a century ; with little of the power, and still less of the 
disposition, to reflect closely or for a long time upon any 
subject ; — is there not little probability that the great work 
of repentance will ever be seriously thought of — still less, 
earnestly attempted — least of all, actually performed ? I 
know there is here and there a miracle of mercy wrought 
in the conversion of an aged sinner ; but when such in- 
stances occur, they occasion surprise, and every christian 



135 

is ready to exclaim, u What hath God wrought !" ^ 
not, my young friend, to stake your immortal interests on 
such a fearful uncertainty ! 

But I am not certain that there are none of you, who, 
in pleading that there is time enough yet, may not be 
secretly flattering yourselves with the hope of a death-bed 
repentance. But do you really think that you shall be 
able to meet and answer the claims which God makes 
upon you, by the convulsive efforts of your last hour ? 
Who then has told you that, after you have spent a life 
of rebellion against God, he will grant you grace to repent, 
w^hile the last moments of your probation are on the wing ? 
Or wiiere has God promised that he will listen to tha* 
cry for mercy which is prompted by the terrors of an 
opening retribution ? Or how do you know that you may 
not, like multitudes o£ others, die in a state of spiritual 
insensibility, being actually abandoned of God to a re- 
probate mind ? Or what evidence have you that your 
last sickness may not be the sickness of a moment, and 
your passage into eternity in the twinkling of an eye ? 
Or if it should be protracted, who can tell but that you 
may be given up to. the w T ild horrors of delirium, and be 
utterly insensible to your condition, until death has ac- 
tually done its work ? I say nothing in respect to par- 
ticular instances of death-bed repentance ; but in general, 
there is every thing to show that little or no dependence 
is to be placed upon them- Oh beware how you defer 
the concerns of religion till your closing hour ! 

What then, my young friends, is the great practical 
inference from all that has been said under this article, 
and from the general tenor of this discourse ? It is this : 
u Behold now" — now in the days of your youth — a is the 
accepted time." We have examined the apologies with 
which you are prone to put off religion, and have shown 
you that they amount to nothing. Dismiss not, I entreat 



136 

, the practical contemplation of this subject, till the 
effect of it has been to make you realize that there is no 
time to be* lost in securing your immortal interests ; to 
prepare you to ask with agonizing earnestness, the mo- 
mentous question, " What must I do to be saved ?" 



LECTURE IX. 



AWAKING TO RELIGION. 



ACTS XVI. 30. 
WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? 

The circumstances which led to this momentous in- 
quiry, were deeply interesting. Paul and Silas had gone 
into Macedonia, preaching the gospel ; and having come 
to Philippi, they were arrested by the magistrates of the 
city, scourged, and thrown into a dungeon. The jailer 
having received a strict charge to keep them safely, thrust 
them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the 
stocks. It is one of the glories of the gospel that it does 
not restrict its blessings to any condition in life ; that its 
richest consolations may be enjoyed as well in a dungeon 
as in a palace : and hence we find that the blessed Sa- 
viour appeared marvellously for these persecuted men. 
That they would be engaged in prayer, it were natural to 
expect ; but the walls of their prison are made to echo 
not only to the voice of prayer, but of praise ; for we are 
expressly informed that " they sang praises to God.'' 
At this moment there was a great earthquake which shook 
the prison, so that the doors were thrown open, and the 
keeper awoke in the utmost consternation. Supposing 
the prisoners to have escaped, which would have been at 
the forfeiture of his life, he drew his sword, and was nearly 
in the act of destroying himself, when Paul — the same 
M2 



1 "Jt^*^ 



138 



Paul whom he had just before confined in a dungeon — 
with much of his master's benevolence, cries out, " Do 
thyself no harm, for we are all here." " Then he called 
for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell 
down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and 
said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?" 

It is not easy, nor, for my present purpose, important, 
to determine, whether the jailer had ever heard the gospel 
before this time ; whether any conversation had previous- 
ly taken place between him and the apostles, which ori- 
ginated these convictions ; or whether the light which he 
received, was directly communicated at the time by the 
Holy Spirit : It is sufficient for. us to know that he really 
became an anxious inquirer on the subject of his salvation. 

It will occur to you, my young friends, that the pre- 
ceding discourse was occupied with an examination of 
some of the excuses, with which youth are prone to put 
off the claims of religion. I would fain hope that there 
are those among you, who have become satisfied of the 
worthlessness of these excuses, and have resolved never 
more to plead one of them — not even at the bar of con- 
science. Nay more, I would indulge the hope that you 
have not only given up your apologies, but that you have 
become impressed with the importance of your soul's 
salvation ; insomuch that when you heard the text an- 
nounced, your heart instantly responded to the sentiment 
contained in it, as one in which you have the deepest 
personal interest. In the hope which I have now ex- 
pressed, it is my purpose, in the present discourse, to 
inquire into the meaning of this momentous question, with 
a view to place distinctly before you that state of mind 
commonly called conviction of sin ; that you may be 
assisted, on the one hand, to decide upon the character of 
your religious impressions, and on the other, to gain such 
a view of your condition as shall be necessary to lead you 
to escape from the wrath to come^ 



'^ 



139 

What then is the import of the question contained in 
the text — " What must I do to be saved ?" 

I. I observe, first, it is the language of deep feeling. 

There are comparatively few in christian communities, 
who are not ready to give a general assent to the truth of 
the gospel ; and far the larger part, at least, among our- 
selves, will not hesitate to avow their belief of the most 
humbling of its doctrines. Of the deep depravity of man, 
and of their own personal guilt and pollution, they will 
profess not to entertain a doubt ; and yet the practical 
influence of this belief is absolutely nothing. With an 
avowed conviction that they are constantly exposed to the 
miseries of the second death, they go their way, one to 
his farm, and another to his merchandize ; and yield 
themselves up to the cares or the follies of the world, 
apparently with as much avidity, and as little apprehen- 
sion, as if there were no heaven to be gained or lost. 
Nay, there are those who not only profess to believe the 
truths of which I have spoken, but in words contend 
earnestly for their importance, in whose hearts they have 
never produced a throb of anxiety, and over whose path 
they have never cast a shade of gloom. The truth is, 
that their belief of them is merely speculative. There is 
nothing in it to rouse, or agitate, or subdue the soul. 
In spite of it, the sinner may slumber even on the borders 
of the world of despair. 

Far different is the spirit which prompted the inquiry 
in the text, and which discovers itself in the exercises of 
every convinced sinner. There is here not only the as- 
sent of the understanding, but the feeling of the heart. 
The sinner not only speculatively believes his guilt and 
danger, but practically realizes it. In the one case, the 
truths which he believes, are like objects seen in the mist, 
or by twilight : in the other, they resemble objects viewed 
in the brightness of noon-day. In the one case, it is as if 
you were to contemplate some temporal calamity, of 



140 

which you regarded yourself in little or no danger : in 
the other, it is as if you were to contemplate the same 
calamity, while you were actually sinking under its 
power. 

I have said that the question in the text indicates deep 
feeling ; but I do not mean that it is, in all cases, alike. 
With some, it is little more than settled seriousness ; 
with others, it is strong anxiety ; and with others still, 
it is unmixed agony. This variety of experience may be 
referred to a difference in the original constitution of the 
mind ; or in the previous moral habits ; or in the in- 
struction which is communicated ; or many other circum- 
stances, which may, or may not, fall within our observa- 
tion. But in every case, the truth is felt, not merely 
assented to : it seizes hold of the active principles of the 
soul, and is not kept locked up in the intellect. 

II. This is the language of strong self-condemnation. 

The process by which the sinner becomes impressed 
with a sense of his guilt, originates in the new view which 
he gains of the divine law. Hitherto, his views of that 
law have been loose and vague : he has practically re- 
garded it as taking cognizance only of the external act ; 
and not improbably has flattered himself that, if he were 
decent in his outward deportment, he should thereby yield 
an obedience to the law which might be accepted as a 
ground of his justification. But under the enlightening 
influence of the Holy Spirit, his mistakes on this subject 
are all corrected ; and the law of God, instead of being 
regarded as little more than a dead letter, is felt, like the 
Omniscient eye, to be a Searcher of the heart ; and like 
the Almighty hand, to operate with a resistless energy. 
It is seen, moreover, to be altogether worthy of its author ; 
perfectly reasonable and just in its requisitions ; an ad- 
mirable transcript of the moral perfections of God. 

Now you easily see how this new view of the divine 
law operates to produce conviction of guilt. If the law 



141 

has its foundation in everlasting righteousness, and is 
perfectly holy, just, and good ; if it is that which binds 
together the moral kingdom of Jehovah, and is an exact 
expression of his will in respect to all his intelligent crea- 
tures, then how evil and bitter a thing must sin be, which 
is the violation of this law : how deserving of God's 
supreme abhorrence must be that evil, which pours con- 
tempt upon his character, and insolently tramples upon his 
authority ! It is in view of the moral excellence of the 
law, then, that the sinner discovers and estimates the 
inherent odiousness of sin : but in estimating his own 
personal guilt, he more especially takes into view the 
extent of its requisitions ; considering it as designed to 
control the inner man of the heart ; as extending to every 
thought, and purpose, and motive, and desire, through 
every period of man's existence. 

How differently does the sinner now estimate the num- 
ber of his sins, from what he did before he practically 
understood the comprehensive import of God's law ! 
Time has been, it may be, when he scarcely considered 
himself a sinner at all ; and when, if he had undertaken 
to reckon with his conscience, he would have thought 
only of flagrant acts of transgression, and would have 
estimated the guilt even of them chiefly by their untoward 
influence upon society. But now he is almost exclusively 
occupied in calling up sins of the heart ; sins of every 
day, and hour, and moment ; sins of which the world 
never took cognizance, and of which, at the time they 
were committed, he scarcely took cognizance himself. 
He sees that he has been living in constant rebellion 
against God ; that he has steadily and perseveringly re- 
fused a practical acknowledgment of his authority ; and 
that too against motives of the most tender and affecting 
import. He charges himself with the blackest ingrati- 
tude ; for when he looks back upon his past life, he sees 
that he has been continually led by a most gracious hand, 
and that blessings have constantly multiplied in his path ; 



142 

and yet he beholds no monuments of grateful homage ; no 
Ebenezers on which is inscribed " Hitherto hath the Lord 
helped me." Perhaps he has been a diligent attendant on 
the means of grace ; has been regularly at the sanctuary, 
and it may be has even daily read the scriptures, and 
sometimes fallen upon his knees, and taken upon his lips 
the language of devotion ; and in all this, he may have 
formerly thought that he was doing much to commend 
himself to the divine favor : but now he sees nothing 
better in these services, by which he had deceived him- 
self, and perhaps deceived others also, than the hollow 
homage of a formalist ; and here, as truly as any where, 
he reads the sentence of his condemnation. How many 
complaining reflections does he find himself to have in- 
dulged against God, because he may have sometimes in 
mercy blasted his foolish purposes, or withheld from him 
something which, if it had been bestowed, would have 
ministered only to his destruction ! How large a part of 
all the thoughts that he has ever had, does he find, on 
review, to have been vain and evil ; how many of his 
words have been idle and frivolous ; how many of his 
purposes have originated in pride or revenge ; how many 
of his desires have been polluted and grovelling ; how 
many actions which to the eye of man may have appeared 
praiseworthy and even noble, does he now perceive to 
have been dictated not merely by a spirit of forgetfulness 
of God, but by a spirit of active rebellion against him. 
In short, his sins of omission or commission, of heart or 
life, appear as numerous as the moments of his existence ; 
and he feels that an effort to recal them all to remem- 
brance, were as vain as to attempt to count the drops in 
the ocean. 

But while the convinced sinner dwells with astonish- 
ment on the number of his sins, or rather finds them 
literally innumerable, he is equally overwhelmed by a 
sense of their aggravation. He perceives that they are 
not the sins of a heathen, who has never heard of Christ 



143 

or salvation ; but they have been committed , it may be, 
in the very brightest sunshine of gospel day. They have 
been committed, while the Bible, with all its awful warn- 
ings, and all its gracious invitations, and all its treasures 
of mercy, has been within his reach ; while the Sabbath 
has weekly dawned upon him, and the sanctuary has 
opened its doors for him, and the ministers of Christ have 
spread before him the provision of the gospel, and have 
expostulated with him to attend to the things that belong 
to his peace. They have been committed, moreover, in 
spite of the kind rebukes and earnest entreaties of pious 
friendship ; in spite of the remonstrances of his own con- 
science ; in spite of the strivings of the Holy Spirit ; in 
spite of all the condescension, the agonies, and the inter- 
cession of Jesus ; in spite of the proffered glories of heaven, 
and the threatened woes of perdition. The fact that he 
has sinned against so much light and love, and that he has 
persevered in sinning, w r hen there were so many con- 
siderations to deter him from it, seems to him to stamp 
upon his guilt a peculiarly aggravated character. 

And then again, he perceives how perfectly vain and 
foolish were the excuses with which he had quieted him- 
self in a sinful course : he is compelled to give them all 
to the winds, and to feel that he stands before God without 
the shadow of an apology. Does he Justify his past ne- 
glect of religion, on the ground that he had no time to 
attend to it ; or on the ground that, in attending upon the 
means of grace, he had done all that it was in his power 
to do ; or on the ground that there would be a future 
more convenient season ? No such thing. He feels that 
his sins have been altogether voluntary and causeless, and 
have exposed him most justly to God's threatened curse. 
It is a common case that a sinner in these circumstances 
actually believes himself to be the most guilty of all be- 
ings, even worse than the reprobate in hell ; for while he 
can invent apologies for others, he cannot for a moment 
admit any for himself. He ls not indeed, as some dream- 



144 

ing speculatists would have it, willing to encounter eternal 
perdition ; but that he deserves it, is as clear to him as 
that the light shines around him amidst the brightness of 
noon-day. He wonders that such a wretch as himself is 
permitted to breathe the air, or enjoy the light, or walk 
upon the earth ; and it is difficult for him to believe that 
his next remove will not be to the prison of despair. 

I have already intimated that there is, in some respects, 
a great variety in the experience of convinced sinners, 
some being far more deeply affected than others. But in 
every case which issues in conversion, there is not only a 
general conviction of the evil of sin, but a particular con- 
viction of personal guilt, and of the justice of the sentence 
which dooms to God's everlasting displeasure. This 
conviction may be acquired suddenly, or it may be ac- 
quired gradually : it may be more or less pungent : but 
in some form or other, and in some degree or other, it 
makes part of the experience of every sinner, who is 
brought to a practical knowledge of the excellence and 
glory of the gospel. 

III. This is the language of earnest solicitude. 

Enough has been said to show that the disclosures 
which are made to the convinced sinner by the Spirit of 
God, must render him, in no small degree, unhappy ; and 
such a state necessarily produces solicitude, both in re- 
spect to the present and the future. It is natural that the 
sinner should earnestly desire a deliverance from the bur- 
den that now oppresses him, and from the appalling doom 
which conscience bids him anticipate in the next world. 

If there were nothing more than his present condition 
concerned, there would be good reason why he should 
long for a change ; for such a condition is always un- 
happy, and often wretched beyond our most gloomy con* 
ceptions. What christian, especially what minister of 
Christ, has not witnessed cases, in which the sinner in 
the circumstances which I am supposing, has been stung 



145 

by remorse, agitated by terror, convulsed by agony, to 
such a decree, that life itself has seemed a burden ; and 
the aspect of despair has settled upon the countenance; 
and even the grave has been longed for, if it might but 
prove a refuge from the lashes of a guilty conscience. 
But where the operations of the Spirit assume a milder 
form, and the impressions of guilt are far less pungent, 
there is still enough in the sinner's condition to cause 
him earnestly to desire that he may escape from it. For 
he feels that while this burden hangs upon his conscience, 
the world is nothing better to him than a prison, over- 
spread with darkness, and hung round with despair. 

But if the sinner is anxious, and with good reason too, 
to escape from the miseries of his present condition, much 
more is he desirous to escape from the accumulated woes 
which await the ungodly in the world of despair. He 
realizes that there is an awful meaning in the description 
which the Bible has given of the future and eternal 
miseries of the lost ; and he ponders the fearful imagery 
in which those miseries are described, till his heart throbs 
and sinks with apprehension. Here again, is it strange 
that he is anxious to escape from this tremendous doom ? 
Rather, would it not be passing strange, if, with such a 
view of the danger of his condition, he could fold his 
arms and lull himself into an indolent security ? 

It is not always easy for the sinner in the state which 
I am supposing, to analyze the operations of his own 
mind. And if it is difficult for him to understand the 
nature of his emotions, he is still more perplexed to 
know in what manner he may obtain peace. Often, the 
most that he can say respecting himself is, that there is 
an intolerable burden resting upon his conscience ; that 
he knows not which way to look for relief; that all 
around him and before him, is impenetrable darkness. 
And not unfrequently, the burden of his anxiety is that, 
with such just occasion for distress, he feels so little ; 
N 



146 

and while, to all others but himself, he seems to be on 
the borders of despair, he imagines that he is utterly des- 
titute of moral sensibility. In these circumstances, he 
adopts, in many respects, a new course of life. If he 
has been accustomed to mingle in scenes of levity, he 
mingles in such scenes no longer. The Bible, and other 
religious books, which he has been used to treat with 
entire neglect, he reads with most earnest attention. He 
rejoices in the opportunity, though he often does it with 
great diffidence, to unbosom himself to his minister, or 
some christian friend, and to receive appropriate instruc- 
tion and counsel. He is often found in the meeting for 
prayer and religious conference, and still oftener in his 
closet, pouring out the anguish of his heart before God. 
You may tell him that a sinner ought not to pray ; but 
the false direction he will not heed ; for though he feels 
no confidence that he shall be saved, let him do what he 
will, yet if he is saved, he is sure that it must be by an 
act of God's sovereign grace, and that grace he has no 
reason to expect, if he does not supplicate it. His for- 
mer careless associates, not improbably, during this pe- 
riod, look on with amazement, and perhaps treat his se- 
rious impressions with ridicule ; but what avails all their 
ridicule with him, so long as his eyes are open to survey 
the appalling realities of his condition ? 

Do you ask whether, in all this striving of which I 
have here spoken, the sinner advances any nearer to the 
kingdom of God, or to a regenerate state ? I answer, yes, 
undoubtedly ; though I would guard the answer by an 
explanation. It is far from being true, that the sinner, 
by any effort he can make, does any thing in the way of 
merit towards commending himself to the divine favor ; 
nor do any of his moral exercises preparatory to renova- 
tion partake of a holy character: nevertheless, these 
efforts seem designed, in the economy of God's grace, to 
prepare him to accept a free salvation ; and though there 
be nothing of a moral character in the prayers that are 



147 

offered previous to conversion, which God can regard 
with approbation, yet there is the natural feeling of dis- 
tress ; and who can tell but that He who hears the cry 
of the young ravens, may not listen to the cry of the 
convinced sinner ? To whatever conclusions men may 
be conducted on this subject by metaphysical speculation, 
all experience unites with the word of God in proving 
that, though the sinner who is only convinced will as 
certainly perish as any other, yet the convinced sinner is, 
in an important sense, nearer the kingdom than the care- 
less sinner ; not because he has a particle of holiness, but 
because he has exercises which, in the order of nature, 
are preparatory to a spiritual renovation. If our Lord 
himself could say of a mere moral man, that he was 
not far from the kingdom of God, surely we need not 
hesitate to apply the same language to a sinner trembling 
under the burden of conviction. 

I have now laid before you, my young friends, so far 
as I have judged necessary, the exercises and the condi- 
tion of a sinner, in what is usually termed a state of 
conviction. In this situation I must, for the present, 
leave him. It is natural to infer, 

1. In the first place, from the preceding remarks, hoio 
far you may go y and finally fall short of heaven. Are 
you, at this moment, an anxious and heavy laden sinner ? 
Have your iniquities taken hold upon you, so that you 
are not able to look up ; and are you trembling under 
the apprehensions of Jehovah's wrath ? Have you for- 
saken the haunts of levity, and broken away from vain 
companions, and have you taken up the resolution that 
you will press forward and enter in at the straight gate ? 
Believe me, so far as thi^you may go, and even farther, 
and yet perish in your sins. All this you maybe to-day, 
and the world may have begun to regain its ascendancy 
over you to-morrow, and before you are yet scarcely 
aware of any change, you may find yourself again in the 
ranks of the gay and careless. Nay, you may continue 



148 

in this very state till you die ; you may always re- 
main a serious inquirer for the way to heaven, and 
may even lie at its very gate, and yet, after all, may 
never enter in. Wherefore, I entreat you not to rest sa- 
tisfied in your present condition. It would be to no pur- 
pose that you should discover that some distressing 
worldly calamity was hanging over you, unless the dis- 
covery should lead you to do something to avert it ; nor 
will it be of any avail that you see yourselves exposed 
to eternal perdition, unless you actually make haste to 
escape from the wrath to come. Let the effect of the 
disclosures already made to you by the Spirit of God, 
lead you to action ; else you will not only perish, but 
perish with a doom aggravated by the very fact that you 
have been the subject of serious convictions. 

2. Learn from this subject, that it is a most solemn 
thing, especially for a young person, to be awakened. It 
is indeed a solemn thing for any person ; because he is 
thereby brought under the direct influence of the Spirit 
of God ; and in the result of the Spirit's operation is 
probably to be decided the question, whether his immortal 
soul is to be saved or lost ; whether his path through life 
is to be cheered by the hopes and consolations of reli- 
gion, and to terminate amid the bright glories of the up- 
per world, or whether he is to go laboring through this 
vale of tears without any substantial support, often dis- 
gusted, and never satisfied, with what the world has to 
bestow, and finally to sink down under the withering 
frown of the Almighty, and be banished from his pre- 
sence for ever. I say then, that the fearful result which 
is pending, renders the case of any awakened sinner pe- 
culiarly solemn ; but the case <rf a young person, in such 
circumstances, gathers additional interest from the fact 
that he is surrounded with peculiar temptations to aban- 
don his convictions, and return to a habit of carelessness. 
For in his case there are gay companions to be forsaken, 
and there are scenes of merriment to be abandoned, in 



149 

which, it may be, the individual concerned, has been 
specially active ; and not improbably there is the hiss of 
contempt, or the frown of indignation, to be encountered, 
from those who have been accustomed to greet him as 
one of themselves. Oh, when I see a young person in 
these circumstances, I tremble ; because I expect that the 
decision he is about to make will be for eternity ; and I 
see much reason to fear that his decision will be wrong. 
3. And this leads me to say, thirdly, that those youth 
who dare to trifle with the serious convictions of their 
companions , are in the very broadest part of the road to 
destruction. They trifle with the immediate influence 
of the Spirit of God. They cast contempt upon the 
most benevolent work which he ever performs for mor- 
tals. They make a direct and most dreadful attempt to 
thwart the gracious purposes of heaven, and plunge an 
immortal soul into everlasting burnings. If I supposed 
there were a single youth before me who bore the 
character of a scoffer, I would say to him, Beware — 
beware how you ever speak lightly again of the work 
of the Holy Spirit. And possibly some of you may 
have been guilty of the essence of this sin, when you 
have thought little about it. When you met your 
brother or sister, whose countenance wore an aspect of 
anxiety, and you purposely threw out some light and 
careless remark, or perhaps cast a significant smile, as if 
in derision, know that that brother or sister felt it at the 
heart, as a cruel and cutting rebuke ; and know too, that 
he who takes an account of all your actions, recorded it 
as an insult shown to his authority, and an attempt to 
counteract the influences of his Spirit. And when, as 
you were passing off the threshold of this house, you 
met some companion whom you had seen melted under 
the warnings, or invitations, which had just been an- 
nounced, and when you took that companion by the 
hand and said, " Come, let us go and talk of the plea- 
sures of the past week, or project plans of amusement 
N2 



150 

for the week to come," — know too, that you were then 
opposing the operations of the Spirit of God, and aim- 
ing a murderous dagger at the soul of your friend. I 
say nothing which is not the result of solemn conviction, 
when I declare, that I would a thousand times rather my 
dearest friend should come and trifle with my last ago- 
nies, and dance around the bed on which my cold and 
motionless body was stretched, and close my dying eyes 
with a loud peal of laughter, than to have him approach 
me with ridicule, when my heart was burdened with 
conviction ; for in the one case, he would only chill the 
last blood that passes through my veins ; in the other, 
he might awaken everlasting agonies in my soul. 

Finally : I dare not close this discourse without urging 
you (though in doing so, I should seem to anticipate my 
next subject) to an immediate compliance with the terms 
of the gospel : because, if I should be spared to stand in 
this place again, to answer the question, " What shall I 
do to be saved ?" some of you may, before that time, 
have heard your last sermon, and have passed into that 
world where the voice of instruction cannot reach you. 
I call upon you then to attend without delay to this mo- 
mentous concern ; to obey the command of God to give 
him your heart ; and I seem to hear a call in every thing 
around me, conveying to you a similar admonition. 
There is a call from above, which I recognize as coming 
from the throne of God, and inviting you to all the glo- 
ries of his kingdom. There is a call from below, which 
seems to come from the abodes of darkness, echoed in 
groans, and agonies, and tortures, warning you to beware 
how you withhold the heart from God another day. 
There is a call from within, which bids you take care 
and not sacrifice your immortal souls. There is a call 
in the memory of departed worldly joys, admonishing 
you that they are worthless, and bidding you seek 
superior bliss. There is a call from the dying bed of 
the christian, and the dying bed of the sinner; the 



151 

one pointing upward, by way of invitation, to the glo- 
ries of heaven ; the other downward, by way of admo- 
nition, to the horrors of hell. But above all, there is a 
call from the cross of Calvary — fror 1 the Saviour in the 
act of dying for your redemption ; and his language is, 
" Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." Mourning sinner, that call 
is to you — to no mortal more than you. Away then 
with all this halting and hesitating, and accept of Jesus, 
and your conscience will be at rest ; your soul will be 
full of peace and hope ; and joy will descend from 
heaven, and take up her dwelling in your bosom. 



1 



LECTURE X. 



EMBRACING RELIGION 



ACTS XVI. 31. 

BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE 
SAVED. 

In this passage, we have the apostle's answer to the 
momentous question of the jailer, to which your atten- 
tion was directed in the preceding lecture. As I en- 
deavored there to exhibit before you the process prepara- 
tory to becoming a christian, usually styled conviction of 
sin, I design now to advance a step farther, and call your 
attention to that great change which the soul experiences 
in passing from death unto life. 

You perceive, my young friends, that we have now 
reached a most interesting point in human experience. 
But I fear I have already advanced one step farther than 
most of you have been prepared to accompany me ; and 
that, in bringing before you the case of a convinced sin- 
ner, I have turned your thoughts to a subject upon which 
you have not, to this hour, had any experience. Ne- 
vertheless, I cannot stay, at present, to reason with you 
in respect to the guilt or danger of your condition. I 
will only put the question to your conscience, whether 
the fact that you cannot go along with me any farther, 
may not have a fearfully ominous bearing upon your 
eternal destiny? There are some, I would fain hope, 



154 

before me, who do realize all that was described in the 
preceding discourse ; and who have come this morn- 
ing, earnestly desiring to have the great question an- 
swered, in what way they may obtain the pardon of 
their sins, the blessing of a pacified conscience, and a. 
title to eternal life. It is for such youth especially that 
this discourse is designed ; and may God the Holy Spirit 
bring it home to their hearts with a subduing and all- 
gracious energy ! 

It may be worth while, before proceeding to consider 
the direction which the apostle, in our text, gives to a 
convinced sinner, to advert, for a moment, to some false 
directions which the advocates of error, of various 
classes, are wont to give in similar circumstances : for if 
there be any subject on which it is important that you 
should accurately discriminate between truth and error, 
and on which, from various circumstances, you are in 
danger of being misled, it is in respect to the terms of 
your acceptance with God. 

One class of advisers will tell you that, in order to be 
saved, you must maintain a correct deportment before the 
world, and especially that you must be honest in your in- 
tercourse with your fellow-men. They say that God is 
not a hard master ; and that if your lives are such that 
you obtain a good report among men, no doubt you will 
stand acquitted by your Judge. And is it so, then, that 
he who looks directly at the heart, will estimate the cha- 
racter of actions, merely by the outward appearance ? 
Or will he who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, 
connive at the prevalence of a spirit of rebellion in the 
heart, merely because the lips, and the hands, and the 
body, are moved in a way that does not interfere with 
the worldly interests of our fellow-men ? They who give 
this direction to the inquiring sinner, are guilty of making 
Jehovah altogether such an one as themselves. To say 
nothing of God's word, reason spurns at such a pre- 
scription for a guilty conscience, and assures the sinner 



155 

that, if he adopts it, it must be at the expense of losing 
his soul. 

Another class, advancing a step farther, will tell you 
that, if you would be saved, you must not only be sober 
and moral, but generous^ affectionate, benevolent : these 
traits, you are told, constitute the moral perfection of hu- 
man nature, and will ensure to you an entrance into 
heaven. Such advisers confound naturally amiable tem- 
pers with gracious affections, making no differ ence be- 
tween the exalted principle of love to God and gratitude 
to the Saviour, and those instinctive qualities which be- 
long to us in common with some of the brute creation. 
They deny the doctrine of human depravity, and main- 
tain that there is no necessity of a divine influence to 
sanctify the heart. How can this answer be given, when 
the Bible every where proclaims the doctrine that man 
is " dead in trespasses and sins ;" and that " except a 
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ?" 

A third class will tell 3^011 that more is necessary in 
order to salvation, than is comprehended in either of the 
preceding directions ; — that there are duties which you 
owe to God as well as man ; that besides being honest 
and benevolent in your intercourse with the world, you 
are bound to read the Bible, and pray, and attend church ; 
but that if you do this, all will be well. These are pha- 
risaical guides. They think to catch and please the eye 
of Omniscience, by a round of external duties, w^hen the 
heart has no part nor lot in the matter. They are 
chargeable with mistaking the means for the end ; with 
substituting rites and forms for the life and power of 
godliness. 

A fourth class will acknowledge that we are sinners, 
and cannot be saved, except by the atonement of Christ : 
they say, however, that, by our good works, we may 
merit salvation in party and that the righteousness of 
Christ will be appropriated to supply the deficiency. In 
opposition to this theory, the Bible uniformly represents 



156 

man as having contracted a debt to divine justice, which 
he can do nothing to cancel ; as being altogether depen- 
dent for salvation on God's rich and sovereign mercy ; 
and as ascribing the glory of his salvation to his Re- 
deemer's blood and righteousness. 

A fifth class will answer the awakened sinner's in- 
quiry, by saying that nothing is necessary to salvation, 
but a simple reliance on the merits of Christy without 
any regard to the temper of the heart, or the conduct of 
the life. The law, they will say, has been magnified by 
Christ's death, in such a sense, that we are released from 
its obligation ; and if you only believe that he died for 
you in particular^ you need give yourself little concern 
about personal holiness. Thus says the unblushing An- 
tinomian ; and that too in the very face of the declara- 
tion that c without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' 

" But none of these directions," methinks I hear you 
say, u yield any solid peace to my soul. I feel that I 
am a condemned sinner, and need the expiation of my 
guilt. I feel that I am a polluted sinner, and need the 
aid of a sanctifying power. I feel that I have no righte- 
ousness of my own, and I need one that is perfect. My 
soul, sinking under the burden of its sins, turns away 
from these blind guides, and looks anxiously round for 
some relief ; but finds none till it reposes in the simple 
answer contained in my text — " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 

What then, you will inquire, is the nature of that 
faith on which is suspended so momentous a result ? 

I answer, it includes, as one of its primary elements, 
an intellectual assent to the great truths of the gospel — 
especially that which constitutes its most prominent and 
glorious feature — the doctrine of redemption by the 
blood of Christ. I dare not say that, in some cases in 
which the opportunity does not exist for becoming ac- 
quainted with this truth, the Spirit of God may not, in 
some mysterious way, exert his renewing influence upon 



157 

the heart ; though if the fact be so, the word of God has 
given us no intimation of it : nor would I venture to 
say w^ith how much indistinctness this doctrine may be 
viewed, or with how much erroneous speculation it may 
be connected, and still be the power of God unto salva- 
tion. But I may say with confidence, that no person, 
with the Bible in his hand, can intellectually reject this 
doctrine, and yet believe to the salvation of his soul. 
The fact that Jesus Christ, by the peculiar constitution 
of his person, is fitted to be our Mediator, that in this 
character he has made an atonemenc for sin, in virtue of 
which God can be just and yet the justifier of the un- 
godly, and that this atonement constitutes the only ground 
of hope to the sinner — so much as this, it would seem, 
must be understood and assented to, as the first step to- 
wards exercising evangelical faith. These facts you are 
to believe, just as you would believe any other facts 
which come to you established by proper testimony. 

But notwithstanding this intellectual assent of which I 
have spoken, to the doctrine of redemption by the blood 
of Christ, is one of the essential constituents of saving 
faith, it does not of itself constitute it. You may believe 
this truth intellectually, and you may even be fierce ad- 
vocates for it, and after all it may remain in your mind as 
a dead letter, and you may die in your sins. If you will 
have that faith which ensures salvation, the truth must 
descend from the head to the heart ; it must assert and 
maintain its dominion over the affections ; thus purifying 
the fountains of moral action, and becoming the seed of all 
christian graces, and gradually bringing the whole man 
into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 

Saving faith, then, is a. practical, influential belief of the 
scripture doctrine of redemption. The truth is first re- 
ceived into the understanding;, and then exerts its legiti- 
mate influence upon the heart. And this influence dis- 
covers itself, first, in an act of self-abasement, or giving up 
every idea of personal merit ; and then in an act of self- 
O 



158 

consecration, or giving up the whole soul to God, in 
humble reliance on the merits of Christ, to be employed 
in his service, to be disposed of at his pleasure, and to be 
saved by his sovereign mercy. It may be that the intel- 
lectual views of the sinner have in all this undergone little 
or no change ; he may have always been as evangelical 
in his opinions as he is now : but his faith, instead of 
being a cold assent, as formerly, is now a cordial confi- 
dence ; instead of exerting no influence, it is a powerful 
principle of action. Who does not perceive that this 
representation is exactly co -incident with that of the 
apostle, when he says, " With the heart man belie veth 
unto righteousness." 

But you will inquire whether there are not other truths 
beside the great doctrine of redemption, which it belongs 
to evangelical faith to receive, and which are fitted to 
constrain the affections and influence the life. I answer, 
there is no truth revealed in the Bible which we are not 
required to believe, not only with the understanding, but 
with the heart ; and none which is not fitted to exert a 
practical influence. Nevertheless it is the doctrine of 
Christ crucified, than which the apostle determined not to 
know any thing else in his preaching, the reception of 
which is more immediately concerned in the sinner's jus- 
tification ; for in practically believing this, the sinner lets 
go his own righteousness as a ground of justification, and 
rests entirely on the atoning blood and perfect righteous- 
ness of the Redeemer. Moreover, this truth is to be 
regarded not only as a cardinal doctrine of the christian 
system, but when viewed in all its connexions, as con- 
stituting the entire system ; so that he who believes it 
intelligently, actually believes the whole gospel. And 
hence you readily perceive that any error in religious faith 
becomes important, as it is more or less nearly connected 
with the doctrine of redemption by the blood of Christ ; 
just as an error in the construction of a building becomes 
more serious, the more intimately it is related to the 
foundation. 



159 

Let me here definitely state what has all along been 
implied — that the sinner is never brought to exercise 
evangelical faith, or to rest his all upon the Saviour, till 
he has gained a thorough conviction that there is salvation 
in no other. And this is often the result of a long course 
of self-righteous efforts : God permits him to take his own 
way, and thoroughly to test the efficacy of means, until 
he is driven to the blood of Christ as his last and only 
refuge ; and when by faith he comes to receive the Sa- 
viour, and the peace-speaking blood of Christ is applied to 
his soul, and he rejoices in God as a reconciled father, he 
wonders that he has not complied with the terms of the 
gospel before. He perceives that his faith in the Saviour 
was a perfectly voluntary act, and that he has remained 
in darkness only because he would not come to the light 
of life. It is true indeed that the evidence of faith may 
not, in all cases, immediately accompany its exercise ; and 
the soul may be left in darkness for a season, even after 
it has a right to appropriate to itself the consolations of a 
christian hope : but in many instances at least, the first 
act of confidence in the Saviour draws down upon the 
soul the tokens of his love, and surrounds it with the light 
of his countenance. The soul embraces its Saviour in the 
arms of faith, and exultingly exclaims, " My Lord and 
my God !" and the Saviour acknowledging the soul as 
ransomed by his blood, graciously responds, " Thy sins 
be forgiven thee !" 

You perceive from what has been said, that the office 
of faith in our justification is simply to appropriate the 
blessings of the Redeemer's purchase ; and hence it is to 
be considered merely as an instrument. The blessings of 
salvation are all the purchase of the Saviour's blood, and 
are offered without money and without price. Faith is 
the hand by which the soul receives these blessings. The 
poor man on whom you bestow your charity, never sus- 
pects that there is any merit in the act of holding out his 
hand to receive it : nor does the sinner any more dream 



160 

of merit in the act of stretching out the hand of faith, to 
receive those spiritual blessings which the Lord Jesus has 
treasured up for the supply of his people. 

Methinks I hear some one say, " And is it so that faith 
is the only thing requisite for salvation : how is it then 
that, in other parts of the Bible, good works are so ex- 
plicitly enjoined : how is it, especially, that the Saviour 
himself, who could not mistake in respect to the conditions 
of salvation, hath said, c Ye are my friends, if ye do 
whatsoever I command you P " In order to see the 
perfect consistency of these different passages with each 
other, we have only to refer to the gracious constitution 
of the gospel. By good works in scripture, are not meant 
works which are good merely in form, which appear to 
the eye of man to be good, while they are dictated by 
motives which God cannot approve ; but such as are good 
in principle, which are the legitimate operation of sincere 
and sanctified affections. Good works, in this sense, are 
indeed essential to salvation, unless the believer dies before 
he has the opportunity of performing them ; but then they 
are essential, not as constituting the ground, or any part 
of the ground, of a sinner's justification, but simply as the 
fruits and evidences of a living faith. They are as truly 
required by the gospel as faith itself ; and even if they 
had not been explicitly required, the requisition of them 
would have been involved in the requisition of faith ; for 
evangelical faith is the great principle of christian obe- 
dience. There may be that which pretends to be the faith 
of the gospel, which does not produce good works ; but 
it will be found, in the end, to have been no better than 
the faith of devils. 

You may inquire again, how the importance which I 
have here given to faith, consists with those passages in 
which repentance, being bom again, &c. are mentioned as 
the conditions on which eternal life is bestowed. Here 
again, the answer is easy. Being born again is nothing 
less than having a renewed nature ; and faith, repentance, 



161 

and all other christian graces, are only the legitimate ex- 
ercises of that nature. Evangelical faith always includes 
godly sorrow for sin ; and there is no such thing as ge- 
nuine repentance, independently of a believing view of the 
great atonement. The christian character is made up of 
a variety of virtues and graces ; and as no one of them 
exists independently of the rest, wherever one of them is 
enjoined, the rest are all implied. They may indeed exist 
with different degrees of strength, and some of them may 
be so feeble that they seem scarcely to exist at all ; never- 
theless, where a gracious principle has once been im- 
planted, there is the embryo of a perfect character. Hence 
you perceive that, whether we exhort you to repent of 
your sins, or believe in Christ, or submit to God, or ob- 
tain a new heart, the direction is, in each case, substan- 
tially the same : and it is impossible that you should obey 
one of these injunctions, without at the same time obeying 
all the rest. 

I have now endeavored to show you, my young friends, 
what you must do, to secure the salvation of your souls. 
Let me, in conclusion, direct your attention to two or 
three practical remarks. 

1. And, first, the subject teaches you that it is a most 
responsible office to direct and counsel the awakened sin- 
ner. When the mind is wrought up to a high state of 
painful excitement, and is anxiously looking out for relief, 
it is likely to grasp with eagerness at any thing that is 
offered in the way of consolation ; and if, at such a mo- 
ment, an awakened sinner has a cup of poison put into his 
hands, there is great danger that he will drink down its 
contents, and suspect no danger, till he finds the blood 
freezing at his heart. One right direction, at that critical 
moment, is doubtless, often, in the hands of the divine 
Spirit, the means of bringing the sinner to a joyful ac- 
ceptance of Christ's salvation ; while, on the other hand, 
it admits of as little question, that one wrong counsel may 
be the means of carrying the soul away from the Saviour, 
02 



162 

and entrenching it in some wretched, fatal delusion. You 
are a young christian ; and some companion comes to you, 
to tell you confidentially that he is anxious for his soul, 
and to ask you what he shall do to secure its salvation. 
There is danger that his distress may work upon your 
natural sensibilities in such a way, that you may drop 
some expression thrt will lower his view of the evil of 
sin, or that will put him upon some other way of relief 
than that which is prescribed in the gospel. But rely on 
it, this is false compassion. If his impressions concerning 
his character and prospects were only the effect of a heated 
fancy, unquestionably it were an act of kindness to un- 
deceive him, and to restore, if possible, the serenity of his 
mind, by convincing him of his mistake. But this is not 
the fact : so far from it, that the most vivid conceptions 
of his guilt which he is able to form, probably fall far 
below the actual reality. If your brother or sister were 
sick, would it be kindness in you to forbear administering 
a remedy which you knew would be efficacious, only 
because it might be disagreeable ; and would you substi- 
tute one which you were certain could not avail, only 
because it might give momentary relief, and would not be 
attended with pain ? If the dearest friend I have on earth 
were so bowed down under a sense of sin, as to be de- 
prived even of that rest which nature requires ; if his 
iniquities had taken hold upon him so that he could not 
even look up ; though I would open my heart wide to his 
distresses, and would go and spread out his case before 
my God, and would embalm my supplication with tears, 
yet I should not dare to point him to any other refuge than 
the cross of Christ. I should not dare to press upon him 
any less important duty than repentance of sin, and faith 
in the atonement, and submission to God, his rightful 
Sovereign ; and till he had done this, I should be obliged 
to say, however my heart might bleed for his anguish, 
that his convictions were not unreasonable. Yes, if I 
should point him to any other spot in the universe, than 



163 

the cross of Calvary, I should anticipate the time, when I 
should hear a reproving and reproaching voice from the 
world of despair, charging me with having been his 
destroyer ! 

2. In view of our subject, we see how exactly accom- 
modated are the terms of the gospel to the necessities of 
men. Any scheme of salvation that was not entirely of 
grace, could never meet the exigencies of our condition. 
If the blessings of eternal life were to be bestowed only on 
the ground of human merit, where is the being on earth 
who could expect any other portion than that which the 
Bible awards to the reprobate ? For where is the indivi- 
dual who has not, by violating the precept, exposed him- 
self to the penalty, of God's law ? But the scheme of 
mercy which the gospel proposes, contemplates man in 
all his guilt and ruin ; it proffers to him a free forgive- 
ness — a free salvation — and it demands only that he 
should accept it, without money and without price. Be- 
hold here both the wisdom and goodness of God — that 
he should have devised a scheme of redemption, in which 
the necessities of our condition are so happily contem- 
plated ! Here also behold an illustrious proof of the di- 
vinity of the gospel ; for what man or angel could have 
formed a plan, in which so much grace shines forth to 
rebel man, and so much glory redounds to God in the 
highest ? 

Finally : Happy is that youth who has believed in 
Christ to the saving of his soul ! For this principle of 
faith constitutes a delightful bond of union between the 
soul and its Saviour, which is the channel of the richest 
spiritual blessings, and which all the powers of darkness 
might labor in vain to dissolve. What though he may 
die in the morning of life ? His faith will secure to him a 
part in the inheritance which Jesus has purchased for his 
people. What though he may be spared to the period of 
middle life or old age ? His faith is a pledge that he will 
live for the benefit of his fellow men, and the glory of his 



164 

Redeemer. What though temptation may assail him in 
its varied forms, and affliction may aim at him its sharpest 
arrows ? His faith will enable him to triumph over the 
one, and to rejoice in the other. What though he may 
sometimes be ready to sink under the burden of his own 
corruptions ? Faith will be in him a principle not only of 
comfort, but sanctification, and will ensure to him a vic- 
tory over these internal foes. How lovely will be his 
character, how useful his example in life ; how peaceful 
his reflections, how bright his prospects in death ; and 
how unutterably glorious his condition in eternity ! 



LECTURE XL 



EVIDENCE OF RELIGION. 



MATTHEW VII. 21= 

NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UKTO ME, LORD, LORD, SHALL 
ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; BUT HE THAT 
DOETH THE WILL OE MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN. 

It is the privilege of God's people, not only to have a 
principle of divine life implanted in their hearts, which is 
destined to prove the germ of immortal glory ; but also to 
possess evidence themselves, and furnish evidence to 
others, that such is their happy condition. Every chris- 
tian may, by a faithful inspection of his own heart, satisfy 
himself, on good grounds, that he is a disciple of Christ : 
Every christian will, by the general tenor of his conduct, 
evince the same fact to those who have an opportunity of 
witnessing his conversation and deportment. 

Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that, though 
the evidences of personal piety are within the reach of 
every individual, insomuch that no one need mistake in 
respect to his own character, there is great danger that 
erroneous judgments will actually be formed ; and that 
persons, by the adoption of false standards, will fatally 
deceive themselves on the great point of their acceptance 
with God. And while this is true, in a degree, of all, it 
is especially true of the young ; and that, for reasons 
which are so obvious, that I need not stop here to specify 






166 

them. It is the design of this discourse, my young friends, 
to guard you against mistake on this momentous point — 
to prevent you, on the one hand, from resting satisfied 
with insufficient evidence of christian character ; and to 
save you, on the other, from needless anxiety and distress, 
through a misapprehension of the kind or degree of evi- 
dence with which you ought to be satisfied. 

The words of our text, as they stand connected with 
our Lord's discourse, are designed primarily to aid us in 
forming a judgment of each other : but if I mistake not, 
they may also be legitimately used to assist us in forming 
a judgment of ourselves. Both these objects will be kept 
in view, while I endeavor to present before you, first, 
what are not, and secondly, what are, evidences of 
christian character. 

I. I am, first, to notice several things which, taken by 
themselves, or taken together, furnish no sufficient evi- 
dence of christian character. " Not every one that saith 
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." 

1. Under this article, I observe, first, that there is no 
judgment to be formed on this subject, from any character 
which one's conviction of sin may assume. Nothing is 
more common than for persons, in speaking of the hopeful 
piety of others, to dwell with great emphasis upon the 
fact that they have been the subjects of peculiarly deep 
and pungent convictions ; and no doubt too that many, in 
estimating their own claims to the christian character, for 
want of better evidence, go back to the same period, and 
think over the remorse, and terror, and agitation, which 
they then felt ; and very charitably, alas, too charitably 
for themselves, conclude, that in all this there must have 
been laid the foundation of a thorough conversion to God. 
True it is indeed, as you have heard, that there is no 
repentance which is not preceded by conviction ; but it is 
far from being true that there is no conviction which is 



167 



not followed by repentance. Even the most pungent 
conviction that was ever felt on this side of the world of 
wo, involves not the least necessity in the nature of the 
case, or the least certainty in fact, of the subsequent re- 
novation of the heart. And in accordance with this state- 
ment, who that has been conversant with subjects of this 
kind, has not witnessed instances in which the most deep 
and awful impressions of the wrath of God, have manifest- 
ly given place to a habit of carelessness ; and the soul that 
seemed to be stricken by the terrors of the judgment, has, 
in a little while, fallen back into the current of worldly 
levities ; and not a vestige of anxiety, or even of serious- 
ness, has remained. Venture not then, my young friends, 
for a moment, to believe that you have experienced the 
renewing influences of the Spirit, merely from the fact that 
you have experienced his awakening influences, even 
though his disclosures may have filled you with agony. 
That you may ascertain your condition in the sight of God, 
it is right indeed that you should inquire, whether you have 
ever seen your true character as a guilty and ruined sin- 
ner : but if this be the only inquiry that you make, and 
you rest satisfied here, you are inevitably deceived, and 
there is every probability that you are undone. The 
reprobate in the world of despair are the subjects of far 
more pungent conviction than was ever felt by mortals on 
earth ; but the spirit which reigns in their hearts would, 
if it were armed with power, wrest from the Almighty 
his sceptre, and spread desolation through the universe. 
Is it not presumption, is it not madness, to believe your- 
self regenerated, on no better evidence than that which 
the fiends of darkness have, and have had, for ages ? 

2. There is nothing in the peculiar manner of the 
Spirifs operation at the time of a supposed conversion, 
by which it can be decided with certainty whether the 
change be genuine. It is well known that there is a 
great diversity in the manner in which the Holy Spirit 
operates to bring sinners into the kingdom : sometimes the 



^ 



168 

change is gradual, and the subject of it can only say, in 
comparing his exercises at different periods, " One thing 
I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see ;" whereas, 
in other cases, the Saviour reveals himself suddenly to the 
soul in all his grace and glory, and fills it with joy un- 
speakable. Now, as these different states of mind actually 
exist in connexion with a genuine conversion, so each has 
its counterfeits ; and neither the one nor the other can be 
safely relied on as evidence of evangelical faith. I can 
point you to instances in which individuals, who have 
seemed to come silently and tremblingly into the kingdom, 
and have expressed the utmost distrust of their own hearts, 
have, after all, fallen back, and openly deserted the cause 
of Christ : and I can point you to instances still more 
numerous, in which the strongest professions of humility, 
and faith, and joy, and deadness to the world, at the time 
of a supposed conversion, have been followed, and speedily 
followed, by an entire disregard, and sometimes an abso- 
lute contempt, of spiritual religion. Here again, then, my 
young friends, be on your guard against self-deception. 
Are you professedly a disciple of Christ, and yet are you 
living in criminal conformity to the world ? And though 
you are conscious that there is nothing, at present, either 
in the exercises of your heart, or the conduct of your life, 
to yield any evidence of a spiritual renovation, are you 
nevertheless recurring in your thoughts to the peace, and 
love, and rapture, of other days, as evidence that a prin- 
ciple of divine life has been implanted in your soul ? 
Believe me, all that peace, and love, and rapture, may 
have been delusion ; and your present condition renders 
it more than probable that it was so. Yes, what you 
once thought was the evidence of piety, and what you 
still cling to as such, may be only the result of an attempt 
of the grand adversary, to blindfold you in respect to your 
danger, that he may the more easily lead you down to 
perdition. 



169 

3. The most diligent performance of external duties, is 
not to be relied on as evidence of a renewed heart. You 
may be a regular and respectful attendant at the sanctuary, 
as often as the doors of the sanctuary are open. You 
may devote part of every day to the reading of the Bible, 
and may feel an interest in gaining a knowledge of its 
blessed truths. You may often be found in the private 
religious circle, and maybe the instrument of edifying and 
comforting others, by the part you take in its exercises. 
You may, in a full belief of the truths of the gospel, join 
yourself to the number of God's people, and come to the 
holy ordinance of the supper, thus rendering an external 
obedience to your Saviour's dying command. You may 
even go farther than this, and may enter your closet 
statedly and frequently, and may fall down upon your 
knees, and may take the language of prayer upon your 
lips ; and in all this you may be conscientious, and may 
actually suppose yourself devout ; and yet after all, the 
spirit of true piety may never have found a place in 
your heart. It may all be the working of a spirit of 
self-righteousness — a spirit which is seeking to secure the 
divine favor by means which have never received the 
divine sanction 5 which would substitute, as the price of 
salvation, human merit for the merit of the Redeemer's 
blood. I do not say that, in all this, there may not be that 
which may seem to indicate to the surrounding world the 
existence of a principle of religion ; but I do say that this, 
and more than this, may exist, while the heart has never 
experienced a moral renovation, and while, of course, the 
individual can have no evidence of having experienced it, 
4. I observe, once more, that no degree of zeal in re- 
spect to the great objects and interests of religion, furnishes 
decisive evidence of christian character. You may not 
only do all, and be all, that I have supposed under the 
preceding article — that is, you may not only discharge 
the various external duties belonging to a christian pro- 
fession, with diligence and punctuality — but you may 



170 

manifest a degree of interest in respect to the advancement 
of the kingdom of Christ, which may procure for you the 
reputation of a devoted christian, and which may seem to 
cast into the shade the apparently more sluggish efforts of 
some who have really been born of the Spirit. You may 
talk much of your own inward experience, of the trials 
and conflicts, the joys and triumphs of the christian life ; 
and may imagine yourself the subject of raptures which 
seem to you like the beginning of heavenly glory ; you 
may wonder at the apparent heartlessness of other pro- 
fessors, and even doubt the genuineness of their religion, 
because their feelings do not rise so high as y6ur own : 
You may deplore the deep moral lethargy of the surround- 
ing world, and may sound the note of alarm in the ear of 
every careless sinner whom you meet : You may even 
set up as a reformer, and astonish the world by wild and 
startling theories of faith and duty, and exhibit a deport- 
ment which, to the surrounding world, shall seem to say, 
" Stand by, I am holier than thou :" Yes, and you may 
be foremost on the list of those who are willing to contri- 
bute their time, and substance, and influence, to the ad- 
vancement of the kingdom of Christ, and may seem to 
evince a spirit of self-denial which would not shrink from 
martyrdom : — All this you may be and do, and yet after 
all, you may be an utter stranger to the influence of 
genuine religion. For in all these labors and sacrifices, 
the secret feeling of your heart may be that you are 
drawing upon you the approving eye of God, and laying 
up for yourself treasures of bliss to be realized in eternity. 
And with this feeling there may be a spirit of pride, 
which exults in a comparison of your own character with 
that of others ; and which, strange as it may seem, sub- 
sists, in no small degree, upon your fancied self-abasement. 
Here again, you may deceive the world ; but if you de- 
ceive yourself, it is only because you neglect to ascertain 
the real state of your heart, or because you neglect to 
compare it with the Bible standard of christian experience. 



171 

So far then you may go, and not be a christian. You 
may have pungent convictions, and glowing raptures ; 
you may be punctual in the performance of external duty, 
and zealous for the advancement of the cause of Christ ; 
and yet, after all, you may have no sufficient evidence 
that you have been born of the Spirit. So far your ex- 
perience may reach, and yet it may be nothing more than 
saying, " Lord, Lord." 

II. In what then does consist the true evidence of 
christian character ? We have the answer to this inquiry 
in the concluding part of our text : " But he that doeth 
the will of my Father, which is in heaven." This is 
the second division of our discourse. 

The grand test of christian character, then, is obedience 
to the will of God. 

It is not perfect obedience ; for no mere man since the 
fall has ever perfectly kept the commandments of God. 
The Bible has declared that " all have gone out of the 
way ;" that " there is none that doeth good, and sinneth 
not." The condition on which salvation was originally 
offered, was perfect obedience ; and if man had yielded 
such obedience, he might have claimed eternal life, on the 
ground of law, as his reward. But the gospel contem- 
plates him as a sinner ; and the conditions on which it 
offers salvation, are accommodated to his character as a 
sinner ; and while it continues the law as a rule of life, 
and supposes a disposition in the christian to obey the 
law, it nevertheless makes provision for the forgiveness 
not only of past sins, but of those also which flow from 
his partially sanctified nature. The gospel, like the law, 
demands of the sinner that he should do the whole will of 
God ; but, unlike the law, it provides for the acceptance 
of an imperfect obedience. 

What then is the nature of that obedience, which is to 
be regarded as a test of christian character ? 

It is the obedience of the life, and the obedience of 
the heart. 




172 

It is the obedience of the life ; by which I mean, the 
habitual discharge of all external duties. 

There are those who lay great stress upon the duties 
which they owe to man, who yet find it an easy matter 
to compromise with conscience for those which they owe 
to God. In their domestic relations, as parents or chil- 
dren, husbands or wives, brothers or sisters, they are in 
many respects most exemplary ; and are always on the 
alert to minister to each other's happiness. In civil so- 
ciety, they are active and public spirited, and are ready 
to lend a helping hand to the various institutions which 
promise to meliorate the condition of man. They are 
moreover generous and humane, and will never turn a 
deaf ear to the cry of distress, and will even go and 
search out objects of want and suffering, that they may 
administer relief. But on the other hand, they will 
think it a light matter to suffer their seats to be vacant 
in the house of God, and will regard the Bible as little 
more than a piece of antiquated furniture, and will hardly 
suspend their secular employments on the sabbath ; and 
as for the duty of private prayer, or confessing Christ 
before men, they never even think of performing it. 
They are good neighbors, and good friends, and good 
citizens ; but here you must stop, unless you go on to 
say that " God is not in all their thoughts." 

There is another class — just the opposite of this — who 
perform with pharisaical exactness the external duties 
which they owe to God, while those which belong to 
their social relations, are but little regarded. They 
make conscience of being in the house of God at least 
twice every sabbath, and oftener if they have opportu- 
nity ; they publicly profess their faith in Christ, and 
unite with his people in commemorating his death ; they 
come regularly to every prayer-meeting, and never shrink 
from taking part in its services ; they go, at least every 
morning and evening, into their closets for prayer, and 
in their daily intercourse always seem ready to admonish 



173 

the careless sinner or the sluggish christian, or to put 
forth an effort, in any way, for a revival of religion. And 
yet, after all, when you hear the testimony of their poor 
or sick neighbors respecting them, it may be that they 
have said to them, "Be ye warmed, and be ye clothed, 
depart in peace :" or if it has occurred to you to look a 
little more closely into their characters, and to inquire of 
those who have had dealings with them in the world, 
what testimony they have to render concerning them, 
pos; ibly they may tell you significantly, that though they 
have, heard that they were very good in a prayer, they 
have found them to be very hard in a bargain ; and it 
may be even that common report has superseded the ne- 
cessity of all inquiry ; and that they have an established 
character in the world, for being not only unmerciful but 
unjust. If you should see them in the church or the 
lecture ro^m, you might put them down on the list of 
those of whom the world is not worthy ; but if you 
should see them in the counting-room, or the exchange, 
you would put them down on the list of those with 
whom you would wish to have as little to do as possible. 
Now, my young friends, I hardly need say that the 
obedience of the christian life differs essentially from 
both these, while yet it has something in common with 
each of them. The true christian will not make the 
performance of one set of duties an apology for the neg- 
lect of another ; but he will endeavor faithfully to per- 
form them all. It will be equally a matter of conscience 
with him to perform the duties which he owes to God 
and to man ; for he will recollect that both are enjoined 
by the same authority. The true christian is a christian 
in the closet, a christian in the family, a christian in the 
church, and a christian in the world ; and he who habi- 
tually neglects the duties which devolve upon him in 
any of his relations, has no reason to regard himself a 
christian. 



P2 



■p* 1 



174 

In the obedience of the christian life, there is no ex- 
ception to be made for the most difficult and self-denying 
duties. There are those who are willing to render an 
external obedience to God's commandments, when ho 
commands nothing that involves much self-denial, who 
nevertheless are not willing to follow Christ, at the e x- 
pense of taking up the cross. Let the command be to 
attend church on the sabbath, or to distribute of your 
property to the necessities of the poor, or to discharge 
any other of the common duties of the christian life, and 
you will yield perhaps a prompt and cheerful compli- 
ance. But change the case, and suppose the path of 
duty to become a thorny path — suppose something be 
required of you which is like plucking out the right eye, 
or cutting off the right hand — suppose a beloved Isaac 
is to be led out, and led out by your own hand, for sacri- 
fice — why then perhaps you will begin to hesitate, and 
reason, and murmur, and the result of the whole may 
be, that you will make some kind of compromise with 
conscience for the neglect of your duty. Christian obe- 
dience, on the contrary, knows nothing of this compro- 
mising temper : there is in it a spirit of courage and in- 
flexibility, which never agitates but this single question, 
4 What does God require of me ?' and that being set- 
tled, nothing remains but action ; no matter whether his 
path be strewed with flowers, or whether it be illumined 
by the fires of the martyr's stake. 

Moreover, the obedience of the christian life, is a per- 
severing obedience. You see many who begin well, but 
their obedience does not hold out. For a while, they 
seem disposed faithfully to discharge the whole circle of 
christian duties ; but at length they find an apology for 
the neglect of one, and then of another, and another, 
until their obedience becomes so defective, that no or." 
can mistake it for the evidence of piety. The tru: 
christian, on the other hand, though he may have his 
seasons of declension, perseveres, and on the whole, be- 






175 

comes more and more faithful in the discharge of duty. 
" The path of the just is as the shining light, that shi- 
ne fch more and more unto the perfect day." 

It 1^ proper here to remark that, in estimating the chris- 
tian character of our fellow-men, there is some regard to 
be had to the variety of constitutional temperament. Some, 
from their original constitution, are more inclined to per- 
form one set of duties than another ; and with all the coun- 
teracting influences both of conscience and principle, it 
will be strange if this original bias does not, more or less 
frequently, discover itself. Of two individuals possessing 
on the whole an equal amount of piety, one may excel 
most in some of the christian graces, another in some 
others ; while each may exhibit his peculiar correspond- 
ing deficiencies. It were rash, therefore, to question the 
piety of any one, who claims to be considered a chris- 
tian, without having regard to his peculiar temperament ; 
though no peculiarity of temperament must be allowed 
to set aside the evidence against him, that results from 
the habitual neglect of any known duty, or the habitual 
indulgence of any known sin. 

Such is the obedience of the christian life. It has 
respect to all God's commandments, even those which 
require the most difficult duties ; and it is persevering 
and progressive. And this, let me say, constitutes all 
the evidence of christian character that we can furnish 
to the world. But in judging ourselves, we are to go 
farther, and inquire whether, with the obedience of 
the life, is also associated that of the heart ; whether 
with the outward act, which is open to the observation 
of man, there is the inward principle to command the 
approbation of God. You perceive then that by the 
obedience of the heart, I mean nothing more nor less 
than the spirit which prompts to the obedience of the life. 

The obedience of the heart implies two things : 

1. An utter renunciation of every claim to personal 
merit. There is nothing more natural to man, than a 




176 

spirit of self-righteousness. Though he has no dispo- 
sition to yield obedience to the law, he is more than 
willing to be saved by it ; and hence it not unfrequently 
happens that, when persons who are flagrantly immoral, 
are interrogated in respect to their hope of future happi- 
ness, they instantly recur to something they have done, 
or it may be to something they have not done, as consti- 
tuting its foundation. But such a spirit does not, cannot 
reign in the breast of the true christian ; for in the act 
of becoming a christian, he has gained a settled convic- 
tion that there is no merit in his best services, and that 
after he has done all, he is an unprofitable servant. 
While, therefore, he engages in the faithful discharge of 
all external duties, while he doeth what his hand findeth 
to do with his might ; he realizes that it is by help ob- 
tained from above that he is able to do any thing ; and 
though indeed he expects a reward, yet he expects it, 
not as a matter of debt, but of grace. And the more 
abasing his views of himself, the more cordial his confi- 
dence in the merit of the Saviour's blood, so much the 
more elevated are his hopes, so much the brighter the 
evidence that his heart has been brought under the sanc- 
tifying power of the Holy Ghost. 

2. The obedience of the heart also implies an ultimate 
regard to the authority and glory of God. 

The unrenewed man may perform acts externally 
good, as truly as the christian : he may perform them 
from a regard to his reputation, or from a spirit of self- 
righteousness, or from constitutionally noble and benevo- 
lent feelings ; but the christian performs them because 
God has required them, and he delights to obey his re- 
quisitions. He regards God not merely as a righteous 
lawgiver, but as a most gracious and compassionate 
Father ; and like a good child, he not only acknowledges 
but reverences his authority. 

But the christian, in his obedience, has respect to the 
glory, as well as the authority, of God. The ruling de- 



177 

sire of his heart is, that God may be glorified ; and he 
knows that he can glorify him only by reflecting his 
image, or what is the same thing, by doing his will. 
Hence when he puts forth his hand to any benevolent 
work, or when he has the pleasure of seeing it accom- 
plished, or indeed w 7 hen he performs the most common 
duties of the christian life, the language of his heart is, 
" Not unto myself, but to thy name, O Lord, be all the 
glory !" God is especially glorified, when the redemp- 
tion of the gospel takes effect in the hearts of men ; be- 
cause in that work the attributes of his character are 
most signally illustrated. Hence the christian not only 
delights to open his own heart to the influence of evan- 
gelical truth, but to procure for the same truth a lodge- 
ment in the hearts of others — in other words, to make 
men wise unto salvation. In a w^ord, agreeably to the 
exhortation of the apostle, whatever he does, he does it 
" heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men." 

Such is the obedience of the heart — that on which 
you are especially to rely, in estimating your claim to 
the character of a christian. I will now conclude with 
two brief remarks. 

1. The subject shows us the importance of being cau- 
tious in respect to the judgments we form of christian cha- 
racter, both in regard to ourselves and others. We have 
seen that there is a strong tendency among men, to set 
up false standards on this subject ; and instead of refer- 
ring character to the only scriptural test, to refer it to 
some arbitrary test, which the Bible has not even seemed 
to sanction. For instance, you have a friend who has 
been the subject of pungent convictions, and then again 
the subject of glowing raptures ; and you speak to that 
friend, and of him, as if you were absolutely certain that 
he had been renewed. You may indeed have reason to 
hope that that is the case ; and there may be that in his 
general appearance, for which you may, with good rea- 
son, give God thanks : but from the nature of the case, 



■4 

178 

you can never at that period know that he is a christian ; 
because you cannot search the heart ; and because multi- 
tudes have, for a season, appeared, in all respects, as pro- 
mising as he, who have afterwards shown themselves 
among the open enemies of the cross. Now, believe me, 
you will be likely to render a much better service to that 
individual, by impressing him with the danger of self- 
deception, and of the importance of self-examination, 
and of giving all diligence to make his calling and elec- 
tion sure, than by inspiring him with a spirit of self-con- 
fidence : for if he be a christian, the former course cer- 
tainly will do him no harm : if he be not a christian, the 
latter course may serve effectually to seal his perdition. 
Or it may be that the case is your own — that you are 
the very person who is rejoicing in the hope of having 
felt the power of God's grace. My young friend, I re- 
joice with you ; but it is right that both you and I 
should rejoice with trembling. The act of regeneration 
is indeed instantaneous ; but not so the evidence of it — 
that is to be collected by a diligent and long continued 
inspection of your heart and life. Beware then how 
you indulge a hope too soon, or too confidently. Be- 
ware how you satisfy yourself with any evidence which 
is nothing more than calling Christ, " Lord, Lord." 

Finally: let the subject lead you to diligent self exa- 
mination. You indulge a hope that you have been re- 
newed by the Spirit of God. Answer then to your con- 
science the following questions. " Am I endeavoring 
faithfully to discharge my whole duty ? In the family 
and in the world, in the closet and in the church, to God 
and to man, in all my relations and conditions, is it my 
grand object not only to know, but to do, what the Lord 
requires of me ? In the obedience which I render to the 
commandments of God, do I make any exception in fa- 
vor of those duties which involve severe self-denial ; or 
do I as readily perform those as any other ? Do I per- 
form external duties with a self-righteous spirit, or with 



179 

a spirit of self-abasement, and humble dependance on 
God's grace ; with a disposition to arrogate the glory to 
myself, or to give all the glory to God ? And is the spi- 
rit of obedience gaining strength in my heart ; am I 
more and more determined that nothing shall drive me 
from the post of duty ; and that come what will, I will 
ever be found on the Lord's side ?" If such is the cha- 
racter of your obedience, no doubt it is the operation of 
a principle of living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But 
I beseech you, be not satisfied with any evidence that 
you are a christian less decisive than this : if you trust 
to mere conviction, or mere rapture, or mere past experi- 
ence of any kind, without respect to the present, there 
is every reason to believe that you will be deceived. But 
if you have the evidence of present, sincere, persevering 
obedience, it is the best evidence — the only sufficient evi- 
dence, that you can possess. Wherefore, my young 
friends, let me leave you for the present, with the exhor- 
tation of the apostle — " Add to your faith virtue, and to 
virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to 
temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to 
godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness 
charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they 
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful 
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 




LECTURE XII. 



PROFESSION OF RELIGION. 



ISAIAH XLIV. 5. 

ONE SHALL SAY, I AM THE LORD'S ; AND ANOTHER SHALL CALL 
HIMSELF BY THE NAME OP JACOB ; AND ANOTHER SHALL 
SUBSCRIBE WITH HIS HAND UNTO THE LORD, AND SURNAME 
HI3ISELF BY THE NAME OF ISRAEL. 

In this and several preceding chapters, the prophet is 
describing the blessings which the Jews might expect on 
their return from captivity ; though his description clearly 
looks forward to the still richer blessings which the church 
should enjoy under the gospel dispensation. These bless- 
ings are all included in a plentiful effusion of the Holy 
Spirit ; especially upon the young. " I will pour my 
spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring : 
and they shall spring up as among the grass ; as willows 
by the water courses." The consequence of this signal 
effusion of divine influence is described in our text — 
" One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and another shall call 
himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe 
with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the 
name of Israel" — i. e. the youth who should be convert- 
ed, would enter into a covenant with God by making a 
public profession of religion. 

As the preceding discourse was intended to exhibit 
before you the evidence of christian character, thus a$~ 

Q 



18.2 

sisting you to decide whether a principle of religion has 
been implanted in your hearts ; the topic which the text 
suggests — that of a public profession of religion — 
seems naturally to follow next in order. I shall, there- 
fore, in the present discourse, call your attention to the 
nature of a christian profession ; to the qualifications re- 
quisite for it ; and to some considerations illustrative of 
its importance. 

As to the nature of a christian profession, 

1. I observe, first, that it includes an acknowledgment 
of the divine authority and doctrines of the gospel. 

It implies a recognition of the fact that the Bible is the 
word of God; that whatever that contains, being the 
product of divine inspiration, is true. So much as this is 
necessary to constitute the church of Christ a community 
distinct from that of Pagans, or Jews, or Mahommedans. 
Of course, whoever joins this community, must be, in the 
broad sense, a believer in Revelation. 

But this is not all. There is implied in a christian 
profession, not only a recognition of the fact that God has 
given a revelation to the world, and that that revelation is 
contained in the Bible, but also an assent to the great 
doctrines of which it is composed I say the great doc- 
trines ; and by these I mean those truths which enter 
essentially into the nature of Christianity, and which can- 
not be separated from it but that it will have entirely lost 
its beauty and power. Each particular church has, no 
doubt, a right to decide for herself what doctrines shall 
constitute the basis of her union ; but so long as she holds 
the head, that is, so long as she acknowledges Christ in 
the scriptural sense, as the foundation, she has a claim to 
be considered as a branch, and her members as members, 
of the true church. But the moment she abandons the 
fundamental truths of Christianity, though sbe may retain 
her character as a distinct society, she loses it as a branch 
of the church of Christ. She may yet be a city set on 



183 

an hill ; but the light which is in her, and which she 
diffuses around her, is darkness. 

But you inquire, perhaps, whether this matter of creeds 
is not a thing of human invention ; inasmuch as Jesus 
himself sanctioned the confession of Peter, which was 
simply an acknowledgment of his Messiahship — " Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." I answer, 
this declaration of Peter is an epitome of the whole gospel. 
Our Lord, in approving this expression of Peter's faith, 
took for granted that the truths which this proposition 
involves were also received ; and what is there that is 
essential in Christianity, let me ask, that is not involved 
in it ? Do you believe in the simple proposition that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of the living God ? Then, if you 
are consistent, you believe that he is u God manifest in 
the flesh ;" that he came to redeem the world ; and hence 
that the world is in a state of ruin. You believe all that 
he has said of himself, and all that the Holy Ghost has 
said of him — of his character, his errand from heaven, and 
the means by w r hich it is accomplished ; and this includes 
the whole of Christianity. Admit, if you will, that Peter 
might not have meant so much as this, inasmuch as his 
views respecting the Messiah's kingdom were still crude 
and imperfect ; nevertheless, Peter is here to be consider- 
ed as the organ of the Holy Ghost, and as uttering a 
declaration in behalf of the church, the full meaning of 
which, when the mists of Jewish prejudice had passed 
away, the church would be able to understand. And so 
the result has proved — this declaration has always been 
regarded by the church, as embodying all the grand 
peculiarities of Christianity. 

But the supposition that a simple assent to the Mes- 
siahship of Jesus, or to the authority of revelation, were 
all that is implied in a profession of Christianity, involves 
an absurdity. For in making such a profession, you 
surely declare your belief in the christian religion. What 
then is the christian religion ? Is it merely the fact that 




184 

God has given to the world a revelation, and that that 
revelation is contained in the Bible ? Or is it not rather 
the truths or doctrines which the Bible contains ? None 
can doubt that it is the latter. Most certainly, then, an 
acknowledgment of these truths or doctrines enters es- 
sentially into the nature of a christian profession. 

2. A profession of religion further implies an act of 
solemn self -dedication to God. There is a public recog- 
nition of christian obligations — the doing of an outward 
act, expressive of the inward feeling of the soul — a feeling 
that you are not your own — that every faculty, and af- 
fection, and talent you possess, belongs to God, and is to 
be consecrated to his service and glory. At the moment 
you were born into the kingdom, you gave yourself away 
to God in an everlasting covenant ; you gave up your 
heart to him ; and he graciously accepted the offering, 
and wrote your name in the book of life ; and he received 
jow. as an adopted child. This solemn transaction is dis- 
tinctly recognized in the presence of the world : You 
publicly acknowledge God the Father, to be your Father ; 
Jesus Christ, your Redeemer and Master ; and the Holy 
Spirit, your Sanctifier ; and you promise, in reliance on 
God's grace, that you will render that gratitude and obe- 
dience which become a redeemed sinner, and an adopted 
child. You recognize the great fact that, inasmuch as 
you are bought with a price, you are not your own, but 
are bound to glorify God both in your body and spirit. 
Henceforth, wherever you may be, or in whatever cir- 
cumstances your lot may be cast, you engage to live the 
life of a christian. No matter though you should be cut 
off from christian privileges, or surrounded by powerful 
temptations, or even have the alternative placed before 
you of turning your back on your Master, or of dying in 
his cause, you have solemnly pledged yourself to God, 
and have done it in the face of earth and heaven, that to 
your latest hour, and latest moment, you will be a soldier 
of the cross . The vows of God are upon you, and though 



185 

you may forget them, though you may even trifle with ' 
them, you can never cast them off. They will accompany 
you to the judgment, and will contribute there to heighten 
your joy, or deepen your agony. 

3. A profession of religion, moreover, involves a pledge 
to the church , and especially to the particular branch of 
it to which you join yourself \ that you will be a fellow- 
helper with them unto the kingdom of God. You engage 
to walk with them in the ordinances of the Lord, espe- 
cially in that holy ordinance that commemorates your 
Redeemer's death. You engage to promote, by every 
means in your power, their comfort and usefulness . You 
promise to do this by the general spirituality of your ex- 
ample ; by letting your light shine in all your intercourse 
with them ; by stirring them up to every good work ; by 
kindly admonishing them of their errors ; and by lifting 
up the hands that hang down. You pledge yourself, at 
the same time, kindly to accept all their endeavors for 
your own edification ; and especially to receive with 
meekness the fraternal reproof, even though you should 
be conscious that your motives or your conduct had been 
misapprehended. In a word, you engage to keep the best 
interests of your fellow-christians always in view ; to 
walk together with them, so far as you can, in the love 
of God, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost : thus 
assisting them to abound more and more in the virtues, 
and graces, and consolations of the gospel. 

Once more : A profession of religion implies a virtual 
declaration to the world, that you are determined hence- 
forth to be on the Lord's side. Not that in consequence 
of becoming a professor, you are to withdraw from the 
world, and decline all intercourse with it — that would be 
to run away from the field of your duty ; — but you are to 
break off all sinful connexion with it. Perhaps you have 
been immersed in its pleasures, and have cared for nothing 
but a round of amusement ; or perhaps you have thought 
lightly, or spoken lightly of serious, vita] religion : it may 
Q2 




186 

be, that you have been associated with others in open 
opposition to the cause of Christ, and that you have en- 
couraged them, while you have been encouraged by them, 
in treating the salvation of the soul as if it were nothing 
more than a dream or a shadow. But in making a chris- 
tian profession, you proclaim to the world that you have 
done with all your contempt and neglect of religion ; that 
they must no longer look for you in scenes of levity ; that 
you are determined to brave the shame and scandal of the 
cross, and to stand forth resolutely and perse veringly on 
the side of duty and of God- What though worldly 
friendship may be offended, and may plead with you to 
relax a little from the strictness of your religion ; what 
though worldly convenience must be sacrificed, and dif- 
ficulties unexpected and appalling encountered in the 
cause of Christ ; in making a christian profession, you 
virtually tell the world that all this is nothing to you ; 
that in the strength of God's grace, you are determined to 
disregard alike both its frowns and its smiles, and to follow 
your master fearlessly whithersoever he may conduct you. 
I stop not now to inquire how far the lives of most pro- 
fessed christians correspond with such a declaration ; 
but that this is the simple language of the act by which 
you confess Christ before men, surely does not admit of 
question. 

II. Our second inquiry, to which we now proceed, 
respects the qualifications for a christian profession. 

And here I remark, in the first place, that mere ortho- 
doxy, or a speculative belief of the truths of the Bible, 
does not qualify a person for making such a profession. 
This indeed, as we have already seen, enters essentially 
into its nature ; but that it is not the only thing requisite, 
is proved by the view which we have already taken of 
what such a profession implies. \^\i cannot, in the 
scriptural sense, confess Christ ] fore men, unless you 
firmly believe the doctrines which he taught : but these 



187 

doctrines you may believe, no matter how firmly, and if 
this is all, you cannot come worthily to the table of the 
Lord. 

Nor yet, again, does mere external morality constitute 
the grand qualification for making a profession. True it 
is indeed that a worthy communicant will be, must be, a 
moral man ; but not every moral man is a worthy com- 
municant. Christian communion, in its very nature, 
implies an exercise of the heart — of pious and devout 
affections. But a man may be externally moral, insomuch 
that you can say nothing of his outward deportment that 
is not good, and yet not a gracious affection may ever 
have been kindled in his breast : of course he cannot be 
qualified either to discharge the duties, or to enjoy the 
privileges of a christian profession. 

What then are the requisite qualifications for making 
a public profession of religion ? 

I answer, first, a suitable degree of religious knowledge. 
The truths of the gospel are the elements of all evangelical 
piety ; so that some knowledge of these truths is abso- 
lutely essential to christian character. But the knowledge 
to which I here refer, relates especially to the nature and 
design of the ordinance of the supper, to which, in virtue 
of their profession, christians are admitted. In order to 
an intelligent participation of this christian festival, which 
constitutes the visible badge of discipleship, they must 
have some knowledge of its connexion with the redemp- 
tion of the world ; of the various lessons of humility, and 
gratitude, and obedience, which it is designed to teach ; 
and of the different channels of spiritual light and comfort 
which it opens to the heart. Many a professed chris- 
tian, from not being properly enlightened on this subject, 
and from looking for some unaccountable and almost 
magical effect -to be produced upon his feelings, rather 
than for the natui ^' operation of pious affections in view 
of truth rendered moi vivid by sensible signs, has been 
sadly disappointed in his experience at the Lord's table : 






188 

and instead of going away with his spiritual strength 
renewed, has gone away with his mind clouded with 
spiritual gloom. It is manifest then that no person who 
has not knowledge to discern the Lord's body in the holy 
communion, is qualified to make a christian profession. 

But while there must be knowledge to discern the 
Lord's body, there must also be faith to feed upon it : 
hence another, and the grand qualification for making a 
profession of religion, is true piety. That this is an in- 
dispensable requisite, results from the very nature of 
such a profession ; for the person who makes it, hereby 
professedly gives himself away to God in an everlasting 
covenant ; which he can never truly do without a re- 
newed heart. And then again, the holy ordinance of the 
supper, to which he is admitted, is evidently designed for 
real christians ; for who but the christian is qualified to 
engage in the celebration of it as a spiritual exercise, or 
to enjoy the consolations, or receive the benefits, which 
it proffers ? Accordingly we find that the members of the 
churches which were established by the apostles, are 
addressed in their epistles as saints, or those who had 
been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 

So far is plain. But you will inquire, what amount of 
evidence you are to gain that you are a christian, before 
you join yourself to the church. Are you to w r ait for an 
absolute assurance ? Undoubtedly not : for upon this 
principle the church could scarcely have an existence ; as 
there are comparatively few, who, in the course of their 
lives, attain an undoubting assurance, on scriptural prin- 
ciples, that they have been renewed by the Holy Spirit ; 
and in no ordinary case at least, does such assurance con- 
stitute any part of the character of a new convert. No 
rule exists, therefore, for the direction of your conduct, but 
the commanding probability : hence you should wait for 
nothing but a rational and preponderating persuasion of 
your own piety ; a persuasion which is the result of faith- 
ful self-examination, prayer, and a diligent use of all the 



189 

means within your reach, of ascertaining your true charac- 
ter. But do you say that you dare not make a profession 
without an assurance that you have been renewed, as 
such a profession would be sin ? I answer, how dare you 
neglect making a profession, when God has solemnly re- 
quired it at your hands, and of course the neglect is sin ? 
In the latter case, that is, in neglecting to make a profes- 
sion, you know that you do wrong : in the former case, 
that is, in making a profession without having attained a 
certainty that you have been regenerated, you do not 
know that you do wrong ; on the contrary, you are fur- 
nished by this rational persuasion of your piety, with a 
commanding probability that you are doing right, and 
that your profession will be sincere and acceptable to God. 
H Examine yourselves," said the apostle to the Corin- 
thian church, " whether ye be in the faith ;" clearly 
implying that, though they were the professed followers 
of Christ, yet they did not, even then, know themselves 
to be christians. 

III. I am now, thirdly, to illustrate the importance of 
making a profession of religion. 

1 . It is important, first, as a matter of consistency. 
You indulge the hope that you have been renewed in 
the temper of your mind ; that you have really given 
yourself to God in an everlasting covenant ; and you are 
secretly determined that you will crucify the world, and 
cultivate all holy affections, and live as becometh an ex- 
pectant of the glories of heaven. Are such the inward 
exercises of your soul — such your desires and intentions ? 
Then where is the consistency of remaining in the ranks 
of those whose views and feelings are all of an opposite 
character ; of cherishing an attachment to Christ, and 
yet refusing to profess such an attachment ? It is the 
very nature of true piety, to be open and honest ; but 
does it consist with honesty before God, to believe in 
your heart that you are a christian, and yet by making 







.190 

no profession of religion, virtually to declare in your life, 
that you do not believe yourself a christian. . Far be it 
from me to say, or to believe, that a person may not pos- 
sess a regenerated nature, who never confesses Christ 
before the world : but if he be* a christian-, he is certainly 
an inconsistent one : his conduct, in this particular, is 
inconsistent with his hopes, and inconsistent with his 
general character. 

2. A profession of religion is important as a matter of 
influence. Let a person live, in other respects, a chris- 
tian life, and I do not say that his example will not be 
useful ; but I do say that it will be far less so, than if he 
were publicly to recognize his christian obligations. For, 
in the first place, the fact that he is sensible that this in- 
consistency mars his character, will be likely to fetter 
him, in a degree, in his exertions to do good. And then 
again, how obviously must the fact of his not being a pro- 
fessor greatly diminish the influence of the exertions which 
he actually makes. Suppose he were to undertake to 
reprove a backsliding professor ; or suppose he should 
attempt to direct the attention of a careless sinner to the 
concerns of his soul ; how obvious is it that, in either 
case, the question would instantly come up, " Why at- 
tempt to enlist me in the service of a Master, of whom 
you practically declare that you are yourself ashamed ? 
If religion be so important, why do you not proclaim 
your attachment to it, by publicly declaring yourself on 
the Lord's side ?" But suppose, on the other hand, 
a christian does confess Christ before men, how much 
weight and authority does this circumstance impart 
to his whole example and character! When he re- 
proves carelessness and irreligion, whether in the pro- 
fessed friends or the open enemies of Christ, they feel 
that he is acting in his true character ; that he is dis- 
charging his christian obligations ; and this will give 
him a powerful influence both with their understandings 
and consciences. Indeed, place him in whatever cir- 



191 

cumstances you will, and supposing him to be exem- 
plary in his life, he will do his duty the more fearlessly, 
and the more effectually, from the fact that he is a pro- 
fessor. 

3. A profession of religion is important as a matter of 
christian improvement. Young christians, especially, 
from being surrounded with peculiar temptations, need 
all the helps to a religious life they can obtain. They 
are especially in danger from the influence of former 
careless associates, who are apt to take the alarm, when 
they see them setting their faces towards heaven ; and 
often do their utmost to retain them in their own ranks. 
And if they remain out of the church, these careless as- 
sociates assail them with peculiar advantage : they are 
encouraged to greater boldness in their attacks ; and 
their attacks are resisted, if resisted at all, with propor- 
tionably greater difficulty. And hence it has happened, 
that many young persons, who, for a season, promised 
well, from having delayed to confess Christ before men, 
have grown neglectful of duty, and have lost at once the 
evidences and the comforts of a good hope. But a pro- 
fession is not only important as a means of preventing 
decline, but of promoting the growth of gracious prin- 
ciples and affections. It secures, on a larger scale, the 
privilege of christian intercourse — of being counselled, 
admonished, and strengthened, by fellow-heirs of the 
grace of life ; — and especially it secures the privilege of 
joining in the commemoration of the Redeemer's death, 
w r hich is fitted, above almost any thing else, to revive 
the graces, to establish the hopes, and to advance the 
comfort of the christian. Indeed, a profession of reli- 
gion naturally brings the christian out of the atmosphere 
of the world, into the atmosphere of piety ; it furnishes 
him, in many respects, with new facilities for doing his 
duty ; and he who is sluggish and unfruitful in such cir- 
cumstances, has indeed good reason to believe that his 
profession is an empty name. 




192 

4. I observe, once more, that a profession of religion 
is important as a matter of obedience to the command of 
Christ. The passages in which this duty is either di- 
rectly enjoined, or clearly implied, are very numerous. 
All those passages in which christians are exhorted to 
come out from the world — not to be conformed to the 
world — to let their light shine before men, &c, are di- 
rectly to this point : and the Saviour himself has declared 
in the most solemn manner — u Whosoever is ashamed 
of me and of my words — of him will the Son of man 
be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father 
with the holy angels." And again, in the institution of 
the supper, he says, " This do in remembrance of me ;" 
and this institution, as we are elsewhere informed, was 
designed to be perpetuated till his second coming : of 
course, the obligation to celebrate it is binding upon all 
his disciples, in all ages. You see then, my young 
friends, that it is not a matter of choice with you, 
whether to make a profession of religion or not ; other 
than it is a matter of choice with you, whether you will 
obey a plain command of Christ or not. Do you say, 
or do you secretly cherish the thought, that you will 
obey all his commands except this ? Ah, you are de- 
ceived in indulging such an imagination ; for if you are 
willing to make a single exception, if you are not ready 
to follow the Lord fully, you need no other evidence that 
you are a stranger to the power of his grace. " If any 
man will be my disciple," says the Master, " let him 
deny himself, and take up the cross" — every cross — 
" and follow me ;" and if you decline making a profes- 
sion, because you regard it an unimportant matter, and 
think you may as well go to heaven without it, wo be to 
that hope which has found a lodgement in your bosom ! 

Two or three brief inferences will conclude this dis- 
course. 

1 . We are taught by this subject, that a profession of 
religion should not be made, without great seriousness and 



193 

deliberation. You have seen that it is a most solemn 
and deeply interesting transaction ; a transaction which 
takes deeper hold of the realities of eternity, than any 
other in which it is possible that you should engage ; a 
transaction which identifies your character, in a degree, 
with the credit of religion ; and which, if heartlessly 
performed, involves you in the fearful guilt of mocking 
God. Moreover, there is great danger that you will de- 
ceive yourself in respect to your own qualifications for 
making a profession ; — that you will mistake a transient 
excitement of feeling, for a genuine conversion to God ; 
and that, after having entered the church, you will dis- 
cover the melancholy secret, that you have never felt 
the power of divine grace ; and that the church will dis- 
cover that, in receiving you to her communion, she has 
taken into her bosom a formalist or a traitor. Take 
heed, then, my young friend, that, in making a christian 
profession, you act w r ith due deliberation ; and give your- 
self suitable time to investigate and ascertain your quali- 
fications. Take heed that your self-examination be con- 
ducted with humble and fervent prayer, that you may be 
delivered from self-deception, and may be guided by 
the Holy Spirit to a true estimate of your character. 
And when you actually approach this duty, do it with 
something of the solemnity which you would feel, if 
you were standing before the judgment seat of Christ : 
approach it with an awful sense of the responsibility 
which it involves, and of your need of Almighty grace, 
to enable you to sustain it : and casting yourself on that 
grace, you shall hear a voice from heaven, saying, u It 
is sufficient for thee." 

2. In view of our subject, we perceive that it is the 
duty of every one to make a public profession of religion. 
u But what," says the youth, buried in the amusements 
of the world, " is it my duty to join the church, and 
profess myself a christian, and come to the communion 
table ?" I answer, Yes, undoubtedly ; and the guilt of 
R 






194 

disobeying a plain command of God, and of pouring con- 
tempt upon the blood of his Son, rests upon you, so 
long as you neglect to do this. Nevertheless, it is your 
duty to be a christian, before you profess yourself one ; 
your .duty to possess a temper that can relish communion 
with Christ, before you perform that external act which 
indicates it. There is an order here to be observed ; 
and that is first to become a disciple, and then to assume 
the badge of discipleship. The latter duty you have no 
right to neglect ; and yet you cannot perform it aright, 
unless you have actually yielded up the heart to God ; 
for the acceptable performance of the one, necessarily 
implies that you have not neglected the other. I would 
say then, to every one of you, Come to the communion 
table ; but see that you come with clean hands and a pure 
heart : come, having renounced the vanities of the 
world ; having given yourselves to God in a perpetual 
covenant ; and having resolved in the strength of his 
grace, that you will live as becometh the gospel of Christ. 
Finally : in view of our subject, let those youth who 
have actually made a profession of religion, frequently 
review the solemn transaction, in connexion with their 
subsequent conversation and deportment. Call to mind, 
my young friends, the solemnity of that hour, in which 
you stood here, and in the presence of the church, and 
in the presence of the world, and in the presence of God, 
assumed the vows of the christian covenant. Call to 
mind the resolutions you then formed, the hopes you then 
inspired ; and inquire how those resolutions have been 
kept, how those hopes have been fulfilled. Since that 
eventful hour, have you lived such a life as you then de- 
termined you would live — a life of prayer, of self-denial, 
of deadness to the world, of devotedness to Christ ? 
Has your deportment been such as to recommend reli- 
gion to your youthful associates ; such as is fitted to im- 
press them with a sense of its importance ; or has it 
been careless and worldly, suited to confirm them in the 



195 

delusions of impenitence, and to lead them onward in 
the path to perdition ? These are solemn questions : I 
entreat you to answer them honestly to your conscience ; 
and remember that wherever you are, or by whomsoever 
you are surrounded, you act under the solemn responsi- 
bility of having publicly covenanted with God. 



LECTURE XIII. 

DEFENCE AGAINST TEMPTATION- 



MATTHEW XXVI. 41. 

WATCH AND PRAY, THAT YE ENTER NOT INTO TEMPTATION 

The circumstances in which these words were spoken, 
were exceedingly tender and interesting. The blessed 
Jesus had retired to the garden of Gethsemane for 
prayer, with a view to fortify himself for the sufferings 
which awaited him. Peter, James, and John, who had 
previously been witnesses of his transfiguration, he 
took with him, on this occasion, to be witnesses of his 
agony. After his entrance into the garden, he apprized 
his three disciples of the extreme anguish of his soul, and 
directed them to remain where they were, and watch, 
while he advanced to a more retired spot, for the pur- 
pose of devotion. But strange to relate, the disciples, 
during their Master's absence, notwithstanding his ex- 
treme distress, and the express command he had given 
them to watch with him, fell asleep. Finding them in 
in this situation, on his return, he gently reproves them, 
by saying, " What ! could ye not watch with me one 
hour ?" and then kindly subjoins the caution in the text, 
" Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." 

The temptation to which our Lord here especially re- 
fers, is doubtless that to which his disciples were to be 
peculiarly exposed — of denying their Master, or desert- 
R2 



198 

ing his cause. Their fond expectations of temporal dis- 
tinction as the followers of Jesus, were about to be dis- 
appointed ; and he to whom they had looked as the de- 
liverer of Israel, was soon to die in ignominy. In mese 
circumstances, there was great danger, as the event 
proved, that they would become distrustful of Jesus, 
and perhaps, renounce all relation to him. Hence the 
caution in our text was peculiarly seasonable. 

But notwithstanding this caution was originally ad- 
dressed to the disciples in reference to a particular case, 
there is enough in common between their circumstances 
and those of all other christians, to warrant a general ap- 
plication of it. All other christians, as well as they, 
so long as they continue in this world, are exposed to 
temptation ; are in danger of turning aside from the path 
of duty, and thus wounding their own peace, and injuring 
the cause of their Master. What the Saviour says, 
therefore, to his disciples, he says to all, " Watch and 
pray, that ye enter not into temptation." 

There is one circumstance which seems to give this 
passage a peculiar application to christians in the morning 
of life : — it is that the words w^ere originally addressed 
to persons, who — whatever might have been their age — 
and they could not have been far advanced — were young 
in the school of Christ. If the fact that their views of 
Christianity were exceedingly imperfect, and that they 
had had but little experience of the trials which must 
attend a christian profession, rendered it peculiarly proper 
that they should be thus admonished, is there not a simi- 
lar reason, growing out of the circumstances of all 
young christians, why the same caution should be ear- 
nestly urged upon them ? 

It will occur to you that, in the preceding discourse, 
we contemplated a youth in the solemn act of making a 
public profession of religion. In virtue of that act, you 
will instantly perceive that he sustains a new relation 
both to the church and the world . This is the point at 



199 

which he openly and professedly commences his warfare 
with temptation. Regarding the young christian in this 
peculiarly interesting attitude, it is the design of this dis- 
course to illustrate the fact that he is in peculiar 

DANGER OF FALLING, and to notice THE MEANS WHICH 
THE TEXT PRESCRIBES FOR AVOIDING THIS EVIL. 

I. I am, first, to illustrate the fact that christians, 

IN THE MORNING OF LIFE, ARE PECULIARLY IN DANGER 
' FROM TEMPTATION. 

This exposure results, partly, from a natural relish for 
worldly pleasure. With most youth, previous to con- 
version, no doubt the love of pleasure is the ruling pas- 
sion. There is a natural buoyancy of spirits incident to 
that period, which usually finds its element, either in 
scenes of gay diversion, or sensual indulgence. When- 
ever the heart comes under the influence of religion, it, 
of course, yields to the dominion of a new set of prin- 
ciples ; and he who was before supremely a lover of 
pleasure, now becomes supremely a lover of God. But 
though the change which takes place in regeneration is 
great, it is not entire ; and the predominating principle of 
the unrenewed nature — though it no longer exists as the 
ruling passion — still continues to operate with greater or 
less energy. Hence it often happens that young per- 
sons, after their conversion, discover something of the 
same thirst for worldly pleasure, which had previously 
constituted their most prominent characteristic. As there 
is no lack of opportunities for gratifying this thirst, there 
is great danger that they will gratify it, though at the ex- 
pense of disturbing their peace of conscience, of violating 
their covenant engagements, and of making the cause of 
their Redeemer bleed. 

That there are many pleasures growing out of our 
present condition, which, though not strictly religious, 
are yet rational, and may be innocently enjoyed by the 
christian, far be it from me to question. Such are the 



200 

pleasures resulting from the exercise of a cultivated 
taste, of a well regulated imagination, of the social and 
benevolent affections ; and even of pleasures of a still 
lower kind — those which belong more immediately to 
the animal nature, the christian may innocently partake, 
provided he does not transcend the limits marked out by 
the Creator. But what I here refer to under the name 
of worldly pleasure^ is that which is either wrong in it- 
self, or which becomes so by excessive indulgence ; every 
thing, in short, which has a tendency to check the spirit 
of devotion, or to diminish our interest in eternal reali- 
ties. Now, that this is the tendency of what are com- 
monly called fashionable amusements, even the more de- 
cent of them, is too obvious to admit of question : all 
experience proves that they serve to relax the whole 
spiritual system. But towards some or other of these 
forms of worldly pleasure, the young christian is li- 
able to be drawn by the remains of his unsanctified na- 
ture : pleasure, more frequently than any thing else, en- 
tangles him with her silken cord, and draws him away 
from the plain path of christian duty. 

Closely connected with the preceding remark, is an- 
other — that young christians are in peculiar danger of 
yielding to temptation, from their love of social intercourse. 

As the social principle is one of the original elements 
of our nature, it is also one of the earliest in its deve- 
lopement ; and perhaps it never operates with so much 
strength as in the morning of life. It is a principle com- 
mon both to the good and the bad ; and while it is ca- 
pable of being made subservient to the most useful pur- 
poses, it may be perverted as a powerful auxiliary to the 
cause of irreligion. Most young persons, previous to 
their conversion, have been associated with those who 
are, at least, careless of religion ; and who, it may ordi- 
dinarily be presumed, still remain so. Now it is by no 
means their duty, on becoming religious, to stand aloof 
from their former associates, or to assume towards them 



201 

any airs of artificial sanctity ; but it is their duty to de- 
cline all that intercourse with them, which is marked by 
levity and inconsideration. Let their intercourse be as 
frequent and intimate as it may — only let it be conducted 
on christian principles — let it minister to edification and 
not to destruction. But need I say that the young chris- 
tian is here in great danger of being led astray ? He 
goes into a circle, where perhaps all but himself are pro- 
fessedly devoted to worldly pleasure ; and where it is 
expected that the conversation will not only be worldly, 
but vain. It may indeed generally be presumed, that 
if he ventures unnecessarily into circumstances like 
these, he goes without even a wish to resist the cur- 
rent ; but suppose he be cast into such a situation, by 
the providence of God, and unexpectedly to himself — 
there is still great danger that, from the influence of for- 
mer habit, the fear of giving offence, or the dread of be- 
ing looked upon as a reformer, he will at least connive at 
that which his conscience condemns ; and perhaps may 
even give occasion to its being triumphantly said, by his 
careless associates, that they had one professor of reli- 
gion among them, though his appearance would never 
have excited a suspicion of it. Whoever you are, my 
young friend, of whom this can be said, rely on it, you 
have already incurred the evil against which the caution 
in the text was intended to guard you. 

But does the young christian ask me whether all his 
intercourse with irreligious people, must be strictly of a 
religious character ? I answer, by no means ; but it 
ought all to be of a useful character. In ordinary cases, 
if you would converse with an irreligious friend in re- 
spect to his own condition, it had better be a matter be- 
tween you and him only ; but the subject of religion is 
of such immense extent, that it may be introduced in 
some or other of its various bearings, in almost any cir- 
cumstances in which the christian ought to be found ; 
and that too without any appearance of ostentation. In 



■I 






202 

general, I would say that, in all your social intercourse 
with the world, you are bound to let your light shine ; 
and while you are always to avoid whatever is incon- 
sistent with a christian profession, you are to make it 
manifest, directly, by your conversation, as often as you 
have opportunity, that you are on the Lord's side. 

But young christians are in danger of perverting their 
social intercourse, not only with the irreligious, but with 
each other. It usually happens, indeed, that, at their en- 
trance on the religious life, they have a strong relish for 
christian intercourse, and find great delight in an unre- 
served interchange of thought and feeling. But experi- 
ence proves that there is great danger that it will not al- 
ways be so. There is danger that, as their first religious 
joys subside, they will approach the subject of religion 
with increasing reserve, till, at no distant period, it 
scarcely comes in, even by way of allusion. I doubt not 
that there are many to whose experience I might appeal 
for the truth of this remark — who can remember the 
time when they scarcely ever met but to encourage and 
assist each other in their christian course ; whose inter- 
course has become scarcely less worldly than that of the 
world itself. 

But it may be asked what harm, after all, results from 
this intercourse of which I have been speaking ? Sup- 
pose young christians do, when they are together, prefer 
some other topic of conversation to that of religion ; or 
suppose they occasionally enter a gay circle, and so far 
conform to the world as to spend a few hours in trifling 
conversation, or vain amusement — does this deserve any 
serious reprehension ? I answer, I do not see how any 
one, with the Bible in his hand, can justify it. What is 
its tendency in respect to the person who engages in it ? 
Ask any who have had experience, and if you get the 
honest answer, I venture to say, it will be, that this 
manner of spending time, has served to dissipate serious 
reflection, to unfit them for the duties of the closet, and 



203 

to awaken remorse, when they came to look at their 
conduct, in view of the Bible and of eternity. And 
what is its influence — w^hat must be its influence, on 
those careless companions who have been witnesses of 
it ? That you may estimate it aright, take into view 
this important truth — that mere neglect of religion will 
just as certainly destroy the soul, as open contempt 
of it. What then though you have not profaned the 
name of God, or spoken irreverently of religion, or com- 
mitted any act which the world calls immoral ; yet, by 
your presence and example, you have lent your sanction 
to a spirit of levity ; a spirit which you know must be 
dislodged from those very individuals, or they must pe- 
rish 5 a spirit, moreover, which, as it is in their case the 
ruling passion, constitutes the grand obstacle to their be- 
coming religious. And let me say, they understand the 
language of your conduct, even better than you do your- 
self ; they regard you as lending the most practical 
testimony to the notion that religion is gloomy ; as vir- 
tually telling them that you cannot find happiness in it, 
and therefore you have come to seek it in the world. Or 
else, on the other hand, they are willing to admit, upon 
your authority, that religion is consistent with a spirit of 
levity, or perhaps even that levity, called by the more 
decent name of innocent cheerfulness, makes part of re- 
ligion ; and if this be so, they, very charitably for them- 
selves, conclude that they are either christians already, 
or have little to do to become so. What more effectual 
means could you use, to keep them at the greatest dis- 
tance from serious reflection than this ? I fear that many 
a professing christian, if he could look into the world of 
wo, would see some there lifting up their eyes in tor- 
ment, who would reproach him with having contributed, 
by his example, to that habit of carelessnes, by which 
they were carried down to perdition. 

Again : young christians are in peculiar danger of 
yielding to temptation, from the fact, that their condition 



204 

awakens, in an unusual degree, the vigilance and activity 
of the wicked. 

Of this fact, no person of the least observation, can 
entertain a doubt. It is not the christian who has lived 
long, and whose character is firmly established, who is 
most frequently assailed by the arts of the wicked ; but 
it is the youth, who is just turning his back upon the 
world, and setting his face towards heaven. This fact is 
often strikingly illustrated after a revival of religion ; 
when many young persons are seen entering upon a chris- 
tian course, and all the wiles of the wicked are put in 
requisition, in order to oppose them. And the reasons of 
this fact are as obvious as the fact itself. Young chris- 
tians have far less strength to resist temptation, than be- 
longs to a more mature christian experience. Moreover, 
the wicked not only assail them under peculiar advan- 
tages, but they feel that they must do it then or never ; as 
there is little probability, when they have once grown 
into established christians, that they will be carried back 
to the beggarly elements of the world. Now, is it not 
manifest that these circumstances invest the condition of 
young christians with peculiar danger ? On every side 
are those who watch for their halting ; — and among 
them, it may be, some with whom they are united in 
the most endearing earthly relations. By flattery, on 
the one hand, and ridicule on the other ; by appealing 
first to one principle of their nature, and then to another ; 
here to the love of pleasure, and there to the dread of 
being singular, they do their utmost to turn their foot- 
steps backward into the path of death. Happy is that 
young christian, who, amidst so many snares, is enabled 
to walk uprightly, and to escape unhurt ! 

I observe, once more, that young christians are in pe- 
culiar danger of yielding to temptation, from the fact that 
the principle of religion in their hearts is comparatively 
feeble. 



205 

I have already said that this is a reason why they are 
especially liable to be assailed by the enemies of religion : 
it is equally a reason why they are in peculiar danger of 
yielding to temptation. The rapturous exercises and 
burning zeal which are often manifested by the new con- 
vert, are, by no means, to be regarded as any pledge in 
respect to future character ; nor are they to be considered 
as indicating even the present existence of a high degree 
of religion. In almost all cases, these strong feelings, 
after a little period, subside ; and he who, at first, ima- 
gined that he had faith enough to remove mountains, 
soon learns that, if he has any faith at all, it is only as a 
grain of mustard seed. The principle of spiritual life in 
his soul, like the principle of natural life in an infant, 
is feeble in its operations ; and though x\lmighty power 
and grace are pledged for its preservation, it is less able 
to endure the storms of temptation, than after it shall 
have gained more strength and maturity. You thought, 
my young friend, w r hile you were standing on the mount, 
and overlooking your path to heaven, that you were 
girded for a conflict with all your spiritual enemies. The 
temptations of the world appeared to you as less than 
nothing, and you supposed it impossible that you should 
ever even agitate the question whether you would yield 
to them. You seemed to yourself to have large stores 
of strength at command, and to be able to march with a 
firm step, even to the martyr's stake. But since you 
have come down from the mount, to the actual reality of 
trial and conflict, Oh how differently does the case ap- 
pear ! Your resolution which you expected would ac- 
complish wonders, proves to be a feeble principle. Your 
zeal, which once rose in a bright flame towards heaven, 
has, in a great measure, died away. Your hope, which 
had formerly mounted up well nigh to assurance, has 
sunk to a low point of doubt, and perhaps sometimes 
trembles on the point of extinction. In short, you now 
feel that, if you are a christian, the actings of spiritual 
S 







206 



life are so weak as scarcely to be discernible ; and per- 
haps even to give occasion for distressing apprehensions 
that you are yet dead in trespasses and sins. In these 
circumstances, how much are you in danger of yielding 
to temptation ! How much reason is there to fear that 
the world will gain a victory over you, which will mar 
your peace, cloud your evidences, and diminish your 
usefulness ! 

II. Having now attempted to illustrate the fact that 
young christians are in peculiar danger from temptation, 
I proceed, secondly, to illustrate the means which the 
text prescribes for avoiding this evil. They are 
watchfulness and prayer. u Watch and pray, that ye 
enter not into temptation." 

It is a truth distinctly implied in this direction, and one 
of great practical importance, that watchfulness and 
prayer ought always to exist together* Watchfulness 
without prayer, is self-confidence ; prayer without watch- 
fulness, is presumption. In the one case, we proudly re- 
pose for security in our own strength ; in the other, we 
pervert the scriptural doctrine of dependence to fatalism. 
They are two things which God hath joined together in 
his word ; and both reason and experience sanction the 
connexion. " Work out your own salvation with fear 
and trembling ; for it is God that worketh in you both to 
will and to do of his good pleasure." 

We will now inquire in what manner the duties en- 
joined in the text are to be performed. 

1. In respect to the first of these duties, viz. watch- 
fulness — I observe, that you are to watch against the 
occasions of temptation. 

There are indeed temptations of various kinds involved 
in our providential allotments : the plain path of duty is 
often beset with them, so that you cannot decline to en- 
counter the one, without, at the same time, turning your 
back upon the other. In all cases of this kind, you are to 



207 

go forward unhesitatingly ; not doubting that you are 
called of God to the conflict , and that if you arm your- 
self suitably for it, he will give you the victory. The 
occasions of temptation against which you are to watch, 
are of a different kind ; they are needless occasions — those 
which offer themselves, not in the course of duty, but in 
the pursuit of mere worldly pleasure or advantage. For 
instance, something presents itself to your view as an 
objec, of desire, which is by no means necessary to your 
comfort, and which will not contribute, in any degree, to 
your usefulness. But in order to attain it, you must place 
yourself in circumstances in wiiich you will be exceed- 
ingly liable to fall into sin. The case then is clear, that 
you ought not to place yourself in these circumstances ; 
for while the good to be attained is little or nothing, the 
evil to which you are exposed may be immense. Or you 
may think to expose yourself to temptation, where there 
is no other purpose to be gained than merely to test your 
own strength ; to secure to yourself the pleasure resulting 
from a victory. Here again, you place yourself on the 
enemies' ground without a warrant ; you rush into the 
field, before you have orders from the Captain of salvation ; 
and you have nothing to expect but that your presump- 
tion will be punished by an ignominious defeat. I repeat, 
then, watch against all needless occasions of temptation. 
While you are careful not to decline any conflict to which 
you are called in the course of duty, be equally careful 
not to volunteer your service in this way, where there is 
no occasion. 

Watch against the power of temptation. I have al- 
ready said that, in the discharge of duty, you will often 
necessarily be placed in circumstances in which you may 
be tempted : here then your whole vigilance is to be put 
in requisition, that you do not fall ; and you have every 
encouragement to this course from the fact that you are 
engaged in the cause, and at the bidding, of your Master 
" Count it all joy," says the apostle James, " when 




208 

ye fall into divers temptations ;" i. e. if God in his pro- 
vidence bring his children into temptation, it may be an 
occasion of joy to them, as furnishing additional evidence 
of his paternal kindness in bringing them through it, and 
of their renovation. As temptation derives its power 
chiefly from a wrong state of the heart, it is especially 
necessary, when you are placed in these circumstances, 
that you should keep your heart with all diligence. You 
are to cultivate indeed, at all times, that lively sense of 
divine things, that spiritual and heavenly frame of feeling, 
which will be most likely to shield you from this evil ; 
but you are to take special care to bring yourself under 
the influence of religious feelings, as you are about to 
approach a scene of temptation. You are to go with your 
whole soul bathed in the holy influences of the gospel ; 
with that spirit which prompted the blessed Redeemer, 
in similar circumstances, to say, " Get thee behind me, 
Satan." And if you discover the least drawing of your 
affections towards the forbidden object, you are to regard 
it as a signal for alarm ; and when you have once begun 
to dally with the temptation, to institute the inquiry with 
yourself whether you may yield to it or not, or to cast 
about you for palliating circumstances, rely on it you have 
already begun to sink under its power. Watch, watch, 
my young friends, against the beginning of this evil. 

Watch unto prayer. 

Watch for opportunities of prayer. It is an important 
part of christian economy to have stated seasons for pri- 
vate devotion ; for experience proves that where this duty 
is made a matter of convenience merely, and is left to 
occupy only the remnants of time which may be occa- 
sionally gathered up from the occupations of the world, 
there is a chilling influence exerted, under which all the 
graces of the christian languish. Be careful, therefore, 
that you have stated seasons for visiting your closet ; and 
let your worldly concerns all be arranged, so far as possi- 
ble, with reference to these seasons. When you foresee 






209 

providential circumstances which will prevent you from 
observing the usual hour, anticipate your devotions ; and 
when you are prevented by some unexpected event, in- 
stead of passing over the duty for that time, avail yourself 
of the first opportunity to perform it. I know indeed that 
the form of this duty may be observed, without the spirit : 
but if the form be habitually neglected, it is scarcely too 
much to say that the spirit is wanting of course. 

I am aware that there are many situations in which the 
discharge of this duty is attended with peculiar difficulties ; 
and there is much reason to fear that many young pro- 
fessors, after struggling with these difficulties for a while, 
come, at length, to regard them as constituting an apology 
for the neglect of the duty altogether. Hence, I have no 
doubt, it is, that many a youth who once gave fair promise 
of being a devoted christian, has sunk into a state of spirit- 
ual apathy so deep as scarcely to be distinguished from 
the lethargy of impenitence. As you would avoid this 
tremendous evil, my young friends, guard against that 
neglect of secret devotion, which will be sure to lead to it. 
If your circumstances subject you to peculiar embarrass- 
ment in reference to this duty, endeavor to counteract 
their unfavorable influence, by a double degree of watch- 
fulness and diligence. There is hardly any condition in 
which you will be likely to be placed, but by proper ex- 
ertion, you may secure at least some moments every day 
for retirement ; and where this is impracticable, you may, 
and ought, to lift up your heart to God in silent ejacula- 
tions. If, in his providence, he places you in a condition 
in which you can commune with him in no other manner, 
such an offering, no doubt, will be accepted. 

But you are also to watch for the spirit of prayer. 
Without the spirit of devotion, the form is mere hypo- 
crisy ; though, as has been already intimated, we are not 
to look for the spirit, where the form is habitually ne- 
glected. It should be your object to watch for this spirit 
constantly ; not merely when you go into your closet, 
S2 






210 



but amidst your ordinary cares and occupations. In the 
workshop, or on the farm, or in the counting-room, even 
in those circumstances which would seem least favorable 
to devotional feeling, you may still occasionally retire 
within yourself, and do something to fan the sacred flame. 
You should watch for this spirit in the events of provi- 
dence, which either occur in your experience, or fall 
under your observation ; whether they are adapted to 
deepen humility, to quicken faith, to nourish gratitude, or 
to bring into exercise any other of the elements of devo- 
tion. And whenever you discover the Holy Spirit's 
operation in the silent movements of your soul towards 
heaven, Oh cherish this divine influence with peculiar 
care. Be not satisfied till the spirit of devotion is ^plenti- 
fully shed abroad in your heart, and your soul is rilled 
with all the fulness of God. 

Moreover, you are to watch for answers to prayer. If 
you should ask some signal favor of an earthly superior, 
and it should not be granted, you would naturally be led 
to inquire whether there were not something in the man- 
ner of your asking, which prevented the bestowment of 
it. In like manner, if you do not receive the blessings 
which you ask of God, it may well lead you to review 
your prayers — especially the spirit with which they have 
been offered — and see whether your want of sincerity, or 
faith, or perseverance, does not constitute the grand ob- 
stacle to their being answered. On the other hand, if 
your prayers actually are answered, you should notice it 
as a ground of thanksgiving and encouragement : if you 
have reason to believe that, in answer to your petitions, 
some sore temptation which threatened you has been 
averted, or that you have received an increased measure 
of strength to encounter some temptation into which you 
have been brought, while you give God the glory, you 
will feel new resolution for your future conflicts, and new 
encouragement to cast yourself upon divine aid. 



211 

2. But the other duty which the text enjoins as a 
means of defence against temptation, is prayer. Con- 
cerning this, let me say, 

That you are to pray that God will not permit you to 
fall into temptation, above what you are able to bear. 

M In all thy ways acknowledge God, and He will direct 
thy paths." He knows perfectly what temptations, with 
a given degree of strength, you will be able to overcome ; 
and he is abundantly able so to arrange events in his pro- 
vidence, that the temptations to which you are exposed, 
shall not exceed your ability of resistance. Let it be 
your prayer, then, that he will prevent you from being 
placed in circumstances which will involve temptations 
too powerful for you ; and if you should heedlessly seek 
such a situation, that he will oppose insurmountable 
obstacles to your arriving at it. 

But, on the other hand, you are to pray that, if in the 
providence of God, you fall into great temptation, you 
may be prevented, by an increased degree of grace, from 
falling before it. There are some cases in which the 
temptation cannot be anticipated ; as it results from cir- 
cumstances into which you are brought contrary to your 
expectations : but in such cases, it is your duty to send up 
a silent petition to God, that he will grant you grace equal 
to the exigency. Other cases there are in which the 
temptation approaches gradually, and you have time to 
discipline your heart, and offer your prayers, in view of 
it. But as you are never secure in this respect, you are 
always to pray for the sustaining and overcoming in- 
fluences of divine grace ; to pray that whatever may be 
the character of the temptation which you are called to 
meet, you may have strength from on high proportioned 
to it. With such preparation as this for your spiritual 
conflict, you will be in little danger of being vanquished. 
And finally, you are to pray that you may be watchful. 
A spirit of watchfulness, as you have seen, is absolutely 
essential to preserve you from falling into sin ; and is. 



212 

therefore, to be regarded as a most important blessing. 
But, like every other blessing, it must come from God, 
and must be sought by prayer. Let the petition, then, 
often go up from your heart, that you may be enabled to 
carry a watchful spirit with you into all your intercourse 
with your fellow-christians, and with the world ; that 
you may watch against the occasions of temptation, and 
against its power ; that you may watch for opportunities 
of prayer — for the spirit of prayer — for answers to prayer. 
And if you follow these directions, you will find that the 
two duties, or rather the two parts of the same duty, 
which I have been urging, will exert a mutually favorable 
influence upon each other ; that while watchfulness will 
promote the spirit of prayer, prayer in its turn will in- 
crease the spirit of watchfulness ; and that together they 
will constitute an adequate defence against temptation. 

On a review of our subject, we remark, first, that the 
christian life is a life of great activity. Is not the life of 
the soldier, stationed in an enemy's country, exposed to 
innumerable stratagems, and often called out to battle, an 
active life ? What say you then of the life of the chris- 
tian, who has to " wrestle not against flesh and blood" 
only, " but against principalities, against powers, against 
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
wickedness in high places ?" And if there be occasion 
for every christian to be constantly active, in order to pro- 
secute with success the warfare to which he is called, is 
not this emphatically true of the young christian, who is 
assailed by a thousand temptations, and yet is compara- 
tively unfurnished for the conflict ? Better a thousand 
fold think to remain idle on the field of battle, or when a 
band of murderers are plotting for your destruction, than 
to think to encounter the enemies which the young chris- 
tian has to meet, without severe effort. 

But, though the christian life is a life of activity, that 
activity is itself a source of enjoyment It is not idleness, 
but exertion — persevering, successful exertion, which 



213 

makes men happy. It is the privilege of the christian 
who has triumphed in the conflict with his spiritual 
enemies, to enjoy a peaceful, grateful, confiding state of 
mind, in view of that grace which gives him the present 
victory, and of that glory which will crown his final 
triumph. Even Heaven itself, the abode of perfect hap- 
piness, though not a scene of warfare, is a place of ac- 
tivity ; for its inhabitants " rest not day nor night," but 
u give glory, and honor, and thanks, to Him that sitteth 
on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever." 

I ask you, then, my young friend, in view of the con- 
sideration now suggested, to examine anew your claim to 
the christian character. Is your religion a religion of 
indolent ease, or of vigorous effort ? Are you satisfied to 
float down with the current of temptation, or do you exert 
yourself to the utmost to resist it ? Do you lead a life of 
watchfulness and prayer, or are you contented to leave 
open the doors of your heart to every temptation ? Be not 
deceived. If the path in which you are walking is smooth 
and easy ; if you find in it little of conflict and self-denial, 
you may imagine indeed that you have found an easy way 
to heaven, but take heed lest the event should prove that 
you had been walking in the broad road to hell. 

Again : Learn from this subject, that the christian's 
actual strength is in proportion to his sense of weakness. 
" When I am weak," said the apostle, "then am I 
strong ;" and the same spiritual paradox occurs in the 
experience of every christian. Observe the solution of it. 
When the christian, looking round upon his spiritual ene- 
mies, and looking inward upon himself, feels his inability 
to grapple with them ; when he is brought most deeply to 
realize that, in his own strength, he can do nothing ; then 
he is induced to cast himself on the boundless resources 
of God's grace. If left to his own unassisted efforts, he 
feels that he is as helpless as an infant ; but girded with 
Omnipotence, he can do all things. To a spirit of activity, 
then, my young friends, join a spirit of dependence. Be 



214 

fearless of temptation, only when you repose in Jehovah 
your strength. And let every victory which you gain, 
while it ministers to your humility by reminding you of 
your own weakness, carry your soul upward to Almighty 
God in devout thanksgiving for his all-conquering grace. 
Finally : Happy they who are trained up in this world 
of conflict , for a world of glory ! There are those who 
enjoy far less happiness than the christian, who, by living 
here, are prepared only for a world of despair ; but the 
christian, by the warfare which he maintains, in the 
strength of Almighty grace, is becoming qualified for the 
everlasting communion of angels. Does the thought ever 
rise in your heart, my young friend, in some moments of 
impatience, that these struggles with temptation are al- 
most too severe to be endured ? Beyond that dark valley 
which lies a little way onward in your path, and into 
which you will soon descend, there is a bright region of 
immortal glory. You cannot see it now ; for the dark- 
ness that hangs around that valley obstructs your vision ; 
but as sure as you are enlisted in Jehovah's service, you 
will soon be there. And thence you will look back upon 
the conflicts of this short period of your existence, and 
weep, if tears can be in heaven, that you should ever 
have felt a sentiment of reluctance at enduring them. 
Travel on then, young christian ; for though young, the 
hills of Canaan will soon greet your longing eyes. And 
is it so, that you are so near that bright inheritance ? Is 
it so, that sweet fields beyond the swelling floods, watered 
by the river of life, and smiling with immortal verdure, 
are so soon to receive your weary feet ? Welcome then 
all the horrors of this howling desert ; welcome all the 
fiery serpents which hell itself can send out ; welcome 
the most rough and stormy passage over Jordan, if this 
brief hour of conflict is to be succeeded by an eternity of 
glory ! 






LECTURE XIV. 



CHRISTIAN DECISION, 



DANIEL III. 18. 

BE IT KNOWN UNTO THEE, O KING, THAT WE WILL NOT SERVE 
THY GODS, NOR WORSHIP THY GOLDEN IMAGE WHICH THOU 
HAST SET UP. 

There is not perhaps recorded in the sacred volume 
a more signal instance of human pride and impiety, than 
we find in the narrative with which our text is connected. 
Nebuchadnezzar, the haughty and infatuated king of Ba- 
bylon, having greatly enriched himself by his conquest of 
the surrounding nations, and especially the Jews, erected 
a monstrous golden image to his god Belus in the plain of 
Dura. Having convened his princes, governors, captains, 
judges, and other officers under him, to the dedication of 
this idol, he issued a decree that, at a certain signal, 
every man should prostrate himself before it in token of 
adoration ; and that, if any one refused to obey the man- 
date, he should do it at the fearful expense of being cast 
into a fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 
three men who were Originally of the princes of Judea, 
and were carried captive to Babylon in their youth, re- 
fused, from conscientious considerations, to submit to this 
horrible requisition ; upon which they were immediately 
summoned into the king's presence, to answer for their 
disobedience. On their appearing before him, they were 



216 

again offered the alternative of rendering homage to the 
idol, or of being cast into the furnace. But they hesitated 
not a moment. With a noble firmness which could face 
the frown of a mighty monarch, and even the most ap- 
palling horrors of martyrdom, they replied, " O Nebu- 
chadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this 
matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to 
deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace ; and he will 
deliver us out of thy hand, king. But if not, be it 
known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, 
nor worship thy golden image which thou hast setup." 

In the conduct of these men on this occasion, we have 
a noble instance of genuine christian decision. I de- 
sign, in this discourse, to avail myself of the declaration 
in the text, to recommend the cultivation of this trait of 
character to young christians. And in doing so, I will 
call your attention briefly to its nature and its advantages. 

I. In respect to the nature of Christian Decision, I ob- 
serve that it is something entirely different from mere na- 
tive firmness of character. Every one knows that the 
original constitutions of men, intellectual and moral, as 
well as physical, are exceedingly diverse. One, for in- 
stance, is originally irritable ; another, so placid as scarcely 
to be moved by any provocation. One is constitutionally 
ingenuous ; another, inclined to concealment : one is timid 
and wavering ; another, firm and resolute. Now this 
latter quality, mere natural firmness, differs from christian 
decision in this important particular — that it is not of 
course subject to the dictates of conscience, or directed by 
a regard to duty. The resolution of the man of the world 
may prompt him to deeds of injustice, deeds of cruelty, 
as well as to acts of generosity and compassion ; and 
where this trait happens to be associated with an over- 
bearing and revengeful spirit, instead of being a blessing 
to its possessor or the world, it is sure to be a curse to 
both. Many a bad man has been a scourge to the com- 



217 

munity in which he has lived, and even to the world, 
who, without this native heroism of character, would 
have been comparatively harmless. 

Christian decision may be defined, in general, as that 
quality which resolutely determines a man to do his> duty, 
at all tunes, without an improper regard to consequences. 
What are some of the elements of which this spirit is 
composed ? 

1. A clear conviction of duty. No man is prepared to 
act at all, much less with decision, so long as he is at loss 
where the path of duty lies ; and the certain consequence 
of being embarrassed on this point, will be, that his ef- 
forts, at best, will be feeble, inconstant, and inefficient. 
The very reflection that he is acting without a settled 
conviction of duty, and still more, the reflection that he 
may be acting contrary to the will of God, taking it for 
granted that he is a good man, will be fitted to wound his 
conscience, and weaken his resolution. Let him then 
who would possess genuine christian decision, make it his 
first object to ascertain the path of duty. Let him do this 
by attentively considering the leadings of God's provi- 
dence, by faithfully consulting an enlightened conscience, 
and above all by earnestly looking for divine guidance 
and teaching. And having once gained a clear and im- 
pressive conviction of what duty is, he is prepared for 
resolute and decided action. 

In most cases in which we are called to act, the path 
of duty, to an honest and well directed mind, is plain. 
For instance, when Nebuchadnezzar commanded the 
three men to worship his idol, there was no cause for a 
moment's hesitation ; nor did they wish for a moment to 
enable them to decide that they would not do it. And 
far the greater part of the cases of duty upon which chris- 
tians at the present day have to decide, are as clear as that 
which was presented to the consideration of these men. 
And where it is otherwise — where there are circumstancs 
to embarrass us in our inquiries and our decision, this 
T 



218 

only constitutes a demand for more earnest consideration 
and prayer. It may safely be said, that there are few 
instances in which the christian, after using all the means 
in his power to ascertain his duty, is still left in the dark 
respecting it. 

2. Another of the elements of christian decision, and 
that in which it especially consists, is an unyielding pur- 
pose to act agreeably to our sincere and enlightened con- 
victions. It is one thing to know what we ought to do, 
and quite a different thing to do it ; and it is to little pur- 
pose that we gain the knowledge of our duty, unless we 
reduce that knowledge to practice. The individuals 
whose example is exhibited in our text, were not only 
settled in the conviction that they ought not, but in the 
purpose that they would not, bow down before the idol ; 
and the language in which they refused to do it, shows 
that they were inflexible in their determination. And so 
it is with every truly decided christian. You may threaten 
him with the loss of every thing he holds dear on this side 
heaven ; you may kindle a fiery furnace, and tell him he 
shall have his portion in it ; you may bring before him the 
horrors of the prisoner's dungeon, or the martyr's stake, 
and you will not shake his constancy in the course of duty : 
there is a holy resolution in his soul, kindled up by the 
breathing of God's Spirit, which the terrors of death itself 
cannot appal. 

3. Another element of christian decision, is a firm con- 
fidence in God. This the three men strikingly exhibited 
in their refusal to yield to the king's impious command. 
What if they should be thrown into the fiery furnace, 
which was made ready to receive them ? They had full 
confidence that their God would preserve them unhurt, 
even amidst those fearful perils. And if he did not, 
they knew what their duty was, and that in some way or 
other God would bless them in the discharge of it : and 
they doubted not that, if their bodies should be con- 
sumed in such a cause, they would be abundantly com- 



219 

pensated for the sacrifice by the glories of eternity. And 
what they felt and exhibited, was, by no means, peculiar 
to themselves : every truly decided christian exemplifies 
the same spirit. If the duty to which he is called is dif- 
ficult, he confides in God for grace to enable him to dis- 
charge it. If he is doubtful in respect to consequences, 
he trusts in God to give them such a direction as will 
be most for his glory. If he has reason to believe that, 
in obeying the divine will, he shall involve himself in dis- 
tressing worldly calamities, here again he confides in God 
to deliver him out of them in his own best time, or to 
cause them to work out for him an exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory. No one accustomed to attempt the 
discharge of duty in his own strength, ever possessed true 
christian decision. A nobler principle of action — a con- 
stant reliance on the Lord our strength, is absolutely 
necessary to constitute the truly decided christian. 

II. I proceed, secondly, to consider some of the ad- 
vantages which christian decision secures. 

1. And, first, a decided course is the most safe course. 
It was so in the case of the three men whose decision is 
exhibited in our text. There was indeed in that case, to 
the eye of worldly calculation, the most appalling danger 
hanging over the path of duty. Nothing appeared but 
that their lives were in fearful jeopardy, and that they 
were on the eve of suffering a most agonizing death. The 
king's anger was excited to fury, and he commanded that 
the impious order which he had given for their destruction 
should be executed without delay. Accordingly they 
were thrown into the fiery furnace which was made ready 
for them ; and doubtless not the king only, but every one 
who was present, expected to see them instantly become 
victims to the flames. And what was the result ? Why 
that these three men were seen walking in the midst of 
the furnace unhurt, under the protection of one whose 
form is said to have been like the Son of God ; and the 



220 

king rose up in astonishment, and immediately command- 
ed them to come out of the furnace, acknowledging the 
power of Jehovah in their preservation. 

And as it was in that case, so it is substantially in all 
others — a decided course is the safe course. Not that 
christians, in ordinary cases, can expect a miraculous 
interposition in their behalf when they are brought into 
circumstances of danger ; but God does usually extend to 
them his special care and protection. If difficulties rise 
and seem to hedge up their path, they are usually brought 
out of them in some way which they had not anticipated. 
And even if their decision leads them to encounter death 
in the cause of duty, it is the safe course still ; for it is 
most emphatically true in this case, that " he that loseth 
his life, shall find it." It is perfectly safe to die in the 
cause of duty ; but it is unspeakably hazardous to live at 
the expense of denying Christ. The three men would 
have been safe, in the most important sense of the word, 
if the flames had instantly consumed them ; for that reli- 
gion on account of which they had died, would have been 
a certain passport to heaven. And so is every christian 
safe who yields up his life in similar circumstances ; for 
the crown of martyrdom here, will be exchanged for a 
crown of glory hereafter. 

2. A decided course is the most easy course. I do 
not intend here to imply that a professing christian may 
not sometimes, in consequence of his decision, be sub- 
jected to severe trials ; or, on the other hand, that by a 
timid and temporizing course, he may not sometimes 
avoid trials : but I mean that, on the whole, the decided 
christian will be far less embarrassed in the discharge 
of duty, than any other. Would Nebuchadnezzar, do 
you imagine, after having witnessed the decision of these 
men, and the consequences of it, have been likely to re- 
peat the experiment which he made, or to have tried any 
other means to induce them to worship his idol ? Would 
he not rather have abandoned it as a hopeless case, satis- 




221 

fied that they were determined to adhere to the worship 
of Jehovah, and that Jehovah would assuredly preserve 
and bless them in it? And the same effect, substan- 
tially, is produced upon the world by every instance of 
decision in christians. Let the christian, when the world 
spreads its temptations before him, show himself deter- 
mined and able to resist them : let him, when solicited by 
his former careless associates to the haunts of sin, ex- 
hibit a firmness of opposition, which their cavils, or sneers, 
or flatteries do not shake ; and let him repeat this in a 
few instances, and he will probably have occasion to re- 
peat it no more ; for they will become satisfied that their 
efforts are unavailing, and will think it best to retire from 
the conflict. Let him, on the other hand, when he is 
tempted, show himself half inclined to yield ; let him 
manifest a disposition to conform to the world so far as 
he possibly can without sacrificing his christian charac- 
ter ; let him look with some degree of indulgence on for- 
bidden pleasures, and often be found amid scenes of 
thoughtlessness, and you may rest assured that that in- 
dividual will be perpetually and painfully embarrassed 
Every instance in which he yields to the claims of the 
careless and wicked, will encourage them to renew their 
demands upon him ; and it will be strange if they suffer 
him to rest, before he has practically disavowed his re- 
gard for religion, and sunk the character of the christian 
in that of the worldling. 

3. A decided course is the most useful course. This 
is evident from the fact that many of those deeds which 
are followed by the most important and permanent benefit 
to the world, could never be performed without christian 
decision. Witness, for instance, the conduct of Moses 
in turning his back upon the rich temporal advantages 
which were held out to him as the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter. Nothing but genuine decision could have in- 
fluenced him to the course which he adopted ; and yet, 
what immense benefits were derived from his conduct, 
T2 



222 

under God, to the Jewish nation and to the world ! And 
what was true of the consequences of his conduct, has 
been true, in a greater or less degree, in thousands of 
other cases. And besides this, the decided christian, by 
his general character , exerts an influence of the most 
salutary kind, which is peculiar to himself. All who see 
him, take knowledge of him that he has been with Je- 
sus ; and wherever he goes, he leaves an impression in 
favor of the religion he professes. 

The undecided professor, on the other hand, is conti- 
nually making the cause of religion bleed. He may in- 
deed, when he is in the company of christians alone, ap- 
pear like a christian: you might even think him zealous 
and active. But in the presence of the world, he seems 
as indifferent to religion as the world itself. If any se- 
vere cross is to be taken up in the path of duty, he has 
no resolution for such a service. What the influence of 
such an example, and such a character must be, no one 
can be at loss to determine. 

Let the appeal be to facts. Look around you, and 
tell me whether you really believe that professing chris- 
tian exerts the happiest influence, w r hose life is a per- 
petual scene of unwarrantable compliances with the 
maxims of the world ; who dares never to take a de- 
cided stand on the side of duty, when duty happens 
to be the unpopular side ; or whether it is not he who 
is steadfast and immoveable ; who fearlessly discharges 
the most difficult duties, and resolutely resists the most 
powerful temptations ? I know there is not one of you, 
w r hose conscience must not return an answer in favor of 
the decided christian. 

4. A decided course is the most honorable course. 
That it actually is so in the view of God, and all holy 
beings, none can question : for the decided christian 
faithfully conforms his conduct to God's will, and makes 
it his unceasing object to promote God's glory, and to 
advance the interests of his spiritual kingdom. But I 



223 

venture to go farther, and assert that he is the most ho- 
norable man in the view of the world ; and even of the 
most wicked part of it. For wicked men, let it be re- 
membered, have eyes and ears ; have reason and con- 
science ; and they know what is right, and what is 
wrong, as well as others. I do not say indeed that their 
hearts will relish the decision of the devoted christian ; 
but I do say that their consciences will approve it : I do 
say that they will have a secret reverence for such a cha- 
racter, corresponding to the contempt which they feel 
towards its opposite : and there are a thousand cases in 
which they have an opportunity to manifest, and actually 
do manifest, their preference, in their conduct. If, for 
instance, the wicked man has any important trust which 
he wishes to put in charge with one of his fellow-men, to 
be executed after he is dead, rely on it, he will be far 
more likely to leave it with the man of unyielding reli- 
gious principles, than any other person ; thus proving that 
the contempt with which he might sometimes have ap- 
peared to regard such a character, was mere affectation ; 
and that he actually regarded it with respect and veneration. 

5. A decided course is the most happy course. It is 
so, because it is the only course that keeps a man on good 
terms with his own conscience ; and without an approving 
conscience, the universe could not make him happy. 
Just in proportion as a professing christian is undecided, 
he loses the approbation of his conscience, and of course, 
in the same* degree, forfeits his enjoyment. 

Moreover, it is a source of rich enjoyment to the de- 
cided christian, to see the benefits which result from his 
decision; the influence which he thereby exerts in 
building up the cause of Christ. It is a delightful reflec- 
tion that, in all his efforts, God is glorified in some way 
or other ; and that he may hope to be instrumental in 
saving souls from death and hiding a multitude of sins. 

By maintaining a decided character, the christian also 
lays a foundation for a peaceful and happy death. He 




224 

may expect indeed that large measures of peace and com- 
fort will be granted him from above, during his life : but 
especially has he a right to expect that this will be rea- 
lized when flesh and heart are failing. Not that any 
thing which he has done will be regarded by him, as 
constituting the least part of the ground of his acceptance : 
still he will look back, and he will have a right to look 
back upon his life, with gratitude to that God who has 
enabled him to stand firm amidst all the temptations to 
which he has been exposed, and with joy unspeakable, 
that his imperfect services may be crowned with the be- 
nedictions of his Lord. It w^as especially this trait of 
character upon which we have been meditating, which 
put such rapture and triumph into the dying expressions 
of the apostle : — u I have fought a good fight, I have 
finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth, 
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which 
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day." 

And as a decided course is the most happy in its pro- 
gress, it is also the most happy in its result : for though 
the rewards of eternity will all be of rich grace, yet they 
will be proportioned to the zeal and fidelity which have 
here marked the christian's labors. While the timid and 
worldly-minded christian (if the expression be not a so- 
lecism) will be saved so as by fire, the truly decided one 
will have an abundant entrance ministered to him into 
the kingdom of our Father ; nay, he will shine as the 
brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and 
ever. 

Enough, I trust, has been said, my young friends, to 
convince you that decision in your religious course is 
most intimately connected with your usefulness, your 
comfort, and your character : let me now conclude with 
a single remark — it is that if you do not become decided 
now, there is little probability that you ever will De- 
cided indeed you must be, in a degree, or you cannot be 
a christian ; but I speak here of that degree of decision 




225 

which, according to the common understanding of the 
term, shall entitle you to be considered a decided chris- 
tian. And I repeat — unless you acquire this character 
now, at the commencement of your christian course, 
there is little reason to believe that you ever will acquire 
it : because every step that you take in the way of con- 
formity to the world, will multiply the temptations 
around you, and will diminish your strength of resis- 
tance. On the other hand, if you begin right, and fix 
upon an elevated standard of duty, though it may cost 
you a severe effort at first, your course will soon become 
easy and delightful. Dare then, my young friends, to 
do your duty at all times and at all hazards. Never be 
afraid to stand alone in a good cause* If the world 
spreads before you its brilliant and tempting scenes, re- 
member that you are not of the world, and that you are 
to have no communion with its sinful pleasures. When 
difficulties and trials throng the path of duty, remember 
that you have professed to be a disciple of the Lord Je- 
sus, and that the motto of a disciple is " self-denial." In 
short, wherever you are — whether among the friends or 
the enemies of Christ, act consistently with your profes- 
sion and your hopes. In this way, you will secure to 
yourself the full amount of blessing which religion is 
fitted to impart. In this way, you will travel onward to 
the grave, cheered by the tokens of God's gracious pre- 
sence ; and beyond it, you will walk over the plains 
of immortality, in the full radiance of the Redeemer's 
throne. 




LECTURE XV. 



GROWTH IN GRACE. 



U PETER III. 18. 

GROW IN GRACE. 

It is an error common with young christians , that 
when the first joys of a renovated state have passed 
away, the current of their affections sets back strongly 
towards the world. Judging from their appearance, in 
many instances, we should say that they gave little pro- 
mise of being faithful soldiers of the cross ; that instead 
of guarding more closely against their spiritual enemies, 
and girding themselves more thoroughly for conflict, 
they were casting from them the armor with which they 
were actually furnished, and dismissing the sentinels al- 
ready stationed at the door of their hearts. They would 
seem to be acting upon the conviction that the course of 
exercises through which they had passed, constituted 
certain evidence of regeneration ; and that regeneration 
not only begins, but completes, their preparation for 
heaven. 

Our text is adapted, my young friends, to guard you 
against this mistaken view of the religious life. It clearly 
implies that regeneration is but the beginning of religion 
in the heart, and of course, leaves the subject of it but 
partially sanctified ; that the christian life is a life of con- 
stant improvement ; and that this improvement is inti- 



228 

mately connected with our own exertions. It is the de- 
sign of this discourse to illustrate the nature, the means, 
the importance of growth in grace. 

I. What is it to grow in grace ? 

The word grace is used in the New Testament with 
various shades of meaning ; but in the text it evidently 
denotes practical piety, or the religion of the heart and 
life. To grow in grace, therefore, is, in general, to make 
progress in religion. 

More particularly, 

1. It is implied in this duty, that you grow, not merely 
in the means of religion, but in religion itself. 

The use of means always supposes that there is an 
end to be attained ; and this holds true in respect to reli- 
gion, as well as any thing else. But it would seem that 
this connexion between the means and the end, is, by 
many professed christians, in a great measure, overlooked ; 
and that, for the actual attainment of grace, they sub- 
stitute the means by which it is to be attained. In the 
regularity of their attendance on religious services, they 
seem practically to forget the purpose for which these 
services were designed ; so that, instead of ministering 
to the growth of religion, they serve only to cherish a 
spirit of self-righteousness. Think not that I would dis- 
courage the most diligent use of means : I would only 
put you on your guard against defeating the purpose for 
which they are designed, by an improper use of them. 
Let them be used, and used daily ; but let it be with re- 
ference to the attainment of an end — the promotion of 
religion in the heart and life ; and so long as this purpose 
is not answered, remember that they have not exerted 
their proper influence. When the effect of them is to 
increase your love to God and man, to quicken your 
faith, to deepen your humility, and to cause you to abound 
more and more in every christian virtue, then and only 
then, is their legitimate purpose accomplished. 



229 

Growth in grace, then, you perceive, involves not only 
a diligent use of the means of grace, but also the attain- 
ment of the end for which these means were designed. 
While the end is not, at least in the ordinary course of 
providence, to be attained without the means, the means 
are of no importance, except from their connexion with 
the end. He who grows in grace, in the use of the one, 
attains the other. 

2. The duty which we are contemplating, implies that 
you grow, not in some particular parts of religion only, 
but in every part. 

The christian character, though made up of a variety 
of graces and virtues, is a well-proportioned and beauti- 
ful whole. But as there is a strong disposition to sepa- 
rate the means and the end in the religious life, there is 
a similar propensity often manifested to deform the chris- 
tian character, by neglecting to cultivate some of the 
traits of which it is composed. Hence we often see pro- 
fessed christians, who, in some respects, seem to be 
closely conformed to the gospel standard, who, yet, in 
others, exhibit so little of the spirit of Christ, as to oc- 
casion distressing doubts whether they are really his dis- 
ciples. Now, if you w r ould comply with the duty en- 
joined in the text, you must guard against this evil. You 
need not indeed fear that you shall superabound in any 
of the virtues of the gospel ; but take heed that there be 
none in which you are deficient. Let your standard of 
piety be as elevated as it may — but let your christian 
character rise in just and beautiful proportions. 

3. The duty enjoined in the text, moreover, implies 
that you should grow in religion, not at particular times 
only, but at all times. 

There is, I fear, an impression too common among 
young christians, that the religious character is to be 
formed chiefly from the influence of great occasions. 
When, for instance, they are visited by severe affliction, 
they feel that it is a time for diligently cultivating reli- 
U 




230 

gion ; but let the rod of God be withdrawn, and they too 
commonly relapse into a state of comparative indolence. 
Or let there be a revival of religion in their immediate 
neighborhood — and you will see them coming forth to 
the work in a spirit of humility and self-denial : but let 
carelessness resume its dominion over the surrounding 
. multitude, and they too, in many instances, will be seen 
settled down to a point of freezing indifference. They 
doubt not that it is the duty of christians to make pro- 
gress in religion ; but they seem to imagine that, by ex- 
traordinary diligence at one time, they may atone for some 
degree of negligence at another. Now we do not deny 
that there are occasions in the christian's life, and among 
them those to which we have referred, which are pecu- 
liarly favorable to his improvement, and for which he 
ought diligently to watch ; but the notion against which 
we protest is, that there is any period, in which he may 
fold his hands in indolence. While you are to improve, 
with special care, those seasons which furnish peculiar 
advantages for the cultivation of piety, remember that 
religion is to be the work of every day ; that in sea- 
sons of prosperity as well as of adversity, in seasons of 
coldness as well as of revival, in every condition in 
which you may be placed, you are bound to grow in 
grace. 

II. If such be the nature, we will now inquire, se- 
condly, what are the means , of growth in grace. These 
are very numerous : we will specify some of the more 
prominent. 

1 . We notice, first, the private duties of religion, com- 
prehending meditation, prayer, and reading the scriptures. 

I would say, in general, in respect to all these duties, 
that, before you approach them, you should throw down 
the burden of worldly care and vexation. The bird 
which possesses the fleetest wing will never fly, if she 
is oppressed with an insupportable load ; neither will the 



<v„ 



231 

soul ever mount up to heaven in its contemplations, until 
it has broken away from earthly incumbrances. You 
should address yourself to these duties with great seri- 
ousness ; for they bring you into the immediate pre- 
sence of God, on an errand which deeply involves your 
immortal interests ; and the absence of a serious spirit 
converts the external act into the most impious mockery. • 
Moreover, they should all be performed, as I have else- 
where had occasion to remark in respect to one, at 
stated seasons ; and especially in the morning and eve- 
ning of each day. But the performance of these duties, 
at stated seasons, should not supersede the occasional 
performance of them. As the circumstances in which 
you are placed, may furnish opportunity, or suggest occa- 
sion, for private religious exercises, you should con- 
sider it at once your duty and your privilege to engage 
in them. 

We will dwell, for a moment, a little more particu- 
larly, on these several duties. 

Of religious meditation, considered as a means of 
growth in grace, it may be remarked that it is not merely 
a speculative, but practical exercise : the object of it is, 
not merely to discover truth, but when discovered, to 
turn it to some practical advantage. If, for instance, the 
mind dwells on the infinite greatness and majesty of God, 
the heart kindles with a sentiment of holy admiration. 
If the mind contemplates the unparalleled love and 
mercy of God, the heart glows with a spirit of devout 
gratitude. If the mind contemplates the depravity and 
ruin of man, and particularly if it turns its eye inward 
on personal guilt, the bosom heaves with emotions of 
godly sorrow. And so in respect to every other subject 
to which the thoughts may be directed — the mind con- 
templates them not as subjects of abstract speculation, 
but of personal interest. 

The subjects proper to exercise the mind in meditation, 
are almost infinitely various. Whatever God has re- 






232 

vealed to us, whether through the medium of his works, 
his ways, or his word, may form a profitable theme of 
contemplation for the christian. " The heavens declare 
the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy- 
work." The system of providence also, exhibits a con- 
stant divine agency, and in the minutest, as well as in 
the greatest, events, presents an impressive view of the 
character of God. And while the dispensations of pro- 
vidence in general furnish suitable subjects of reflection, 
this is especially true of those events which more imme- 
diately respect ourselves ; whether they assume the form 
of mercies or afflictions. But the Bible is an inexhaus- 
tible treasury of truth : it contains things into which 
even angels desire to look ; and which will no doubt 
awaken the interest, and employ the curiosity, of angels, 
for ever. Our own character and condition also, con- 
stitute, though not one of the most pleasant, yet to us 
one of the most important, subjects of meditation. From 
these various sources, then, you may derive materials 
for religious contemplation ; and who will not say that 
here is enough to employ the mind in all the circum- 
stances and periods of its existence ? 

One of the most important forms of the duty of which 
I am speaking, is self-examination ; or meditating upon 
ourselves with a view to ascertain our own character 
and condition. You are to examine yourself in re- 
spect to your sins ; — the sins of your whole life ; the 
sins of particular periods, especially of each passing day ; 
the sins which most easily beset you ; and all the cir- 
cumstances of aggravation by which your sins have been 
attended. You are to examine yourself in respect to 
your spiritual wants ; to inquire in which of the chris- 
tian graces you are especially deficient ; through what 
avenue the world assails you most successfully, and, of 
course, at what point you need to be most strongly for- 
tified. You are to examine yourself in respect to 
your evidences of christian character ; — to inquire whe- 



233 

ther you have really the spirit of christian obedience, 
and whether that spirit is daily gaining strength. This 
inquiry is to be conducted with great vigilance ; other- 
wise, the heart is so deceitful, that you will deceive your- 
self in the very attempt to avoid being deceived. It 
must be prosecuted with unyielding determination ; for 
the work is in itself so difficult, and withal, the disco- 
veries which must result from it so painful, that, without 
this spirit, it will inevitably be abandoned. You must 
refer your character to the scriptural standard ; — to the 
law j if you would ascertain the extent of your departure 
from duty ; to the gospel, if you would test your claim 
to the christian character. And finally, in the spirit of 
humble dependence, let all your efforts be accompanied 
and crowned by the prayer — " Search me, O God, and 
know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and 
see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in 
the way everlasting." 

The importance of self-examination, and of the more 
general duty of meditation, of which this is a part, as a 
means of growth in grace, it is not easy adequately to 
estimate. Meditation is necessary not only as a prepa- 
ration for prayer, but as entering essentially into the na- 
ture of prayer ; nay, it is essential to every act of faith ; 
it is the exercise by which the soul digests all the spi- 
ritual food which it receives. Moreover, it is of great 
importance, as tending to promote spiritual economy. 
How many hours, and days, and years, of the christian's 
life, are lost, and worse than lost, from the fact that his 
mind has not been disciplined to a habit of meditation. 
No inconsiderable part of your whole time is passed in 
solitude : many of these hours, at least, might be re- 
deemed by meditation, for purposes of religious improve- 
ment. You may meditate not in the closet only, but in 
the field or the work-shop, in the lonely walk or the 
midnight hour ; you may meditate in circumstances in 
which you can do nothing else ; and thus, by this sweet 
U2 




234 

and silent exercise of the soul, you may keep yourself 
constantly under a sanctifying influence. 

In respect to the duty of private prayer, much of 
what might here naturally be said, has been anticipated 
in another discourse. Let me only add, that your pri- 
vate addresses at a throne of grace should be, in a high 
degree, particular ; and should contemplate even the 
most minute circumstances of your condition. In social 
and public prayer, our petitions are necessarily, in some 
degree, of a general character ; as they embrace wants 
which each individual has, in common with many others. 
But every christian's experience has something in it pe- 
culiar ; and not only so, but it is subject to constant 
variation ; and it is in the devotions of the closet alone, 
that this variety of experience can be distinctly recog- 
nized. Endeavor, then, by previous meditation, to gain 
an accurate knowledge of your necessities and sins, on 
the one hand, and a deep impression of the mercies 
which you have received, on the other ; and by thus 
communing with your own heart, you will be prepared 
for close and particular communion with God. In re- 
viewing a given period, do you find that you have been 
betrayed into levity of conversation or deportment ; or 
that you have remained silent, where you ought to have 
dropped a word in behalf of the cause of Christ ? Do 
you find that your thoughts have been wandering on for- 
bidden objects ; or that you have yielded to the influence 
of some evil passion — have indulged in discontent, envy, 
pride, or revenge ; or that, from the want of vigilance, 
you have been overcome by some sudden temptation ? 
Let all this be a matter of distinct and solemn confession 
in your closet. Or have you received some signal mani- 
festation of God's kindness in preserving you from temp- 
tation, or strengthening you for arduous duties, or im- 
parting new vigor to your religious affections, and thus 
brightening your hope of heaven ? Let these, and all 
other private blessings, be a subject of devout thanks- 




235 

giving in your closet. Or do you find that you have 
easily besetting sins ; or that duties await you, which 
must involve great self-denial ; or that temptations are 
about to throng upon you, which mere human resolution 
can never successfully oppose ? In the closet you are to 
seek for grace accommodated to these and all other exi- 
gencies of your spiritual condition. In short, here you 
are to unburden your whole soul with the confidence of 
a child. You have sins, and sorrows, and wants, which 
it might be neither desirable nor proper that you should 
bring before the world: but there is not a sin of which 
you are guilty, which you are not encouraged here to 
confess : not a sorrow can agitate your breast, but you 
may venture here to tell it to a compassionate God : not 
a want can you feel, but you may here ask with confi- 
dence to have it supplied. Let the exercise of private 
prayer be conducted in the manner which has now been 
described, and it cannot fail to exert a powerful influence 
in making you holy. But in proportion as it becomes 
general — overlooking the more minute circumstances of 
your condition, it will degenerate into formality, and thus 
defeat the great end which it is designed to accomplish. 

Closely connected with private prayer, as a means of 
growth in grace, is reading the scriptures. " Sanc- 
tify them through thy truth," is part of the memorable 
prayer which our Lord offered in behalf of his disciples, 
a little before he left the world ; and the sentiment which 
it contains, has been verified in the experience of every 
christian from that hour down to the present. Not only 
is the word of God the incorruptible seed of the renewed 
nature, but it is that from which the spiritual principle 
derives its nourishment ; and accordingly we find that 
those who have attained the most commanding stature in 
piety, are those who have drawn most largely from this 
storehouse of spiritual bounty. But in order that you 
may realize the benefit which this exercise is adapted to 
secure, you must read the word of God with devout and 



236 

earnest attention ; for like the food which nourishes the 
body, it must be digested in order to its being a means 
of nourishment to the soul. You must read it as the 
word of God ; with the most reverent regard for its 
author ; with a firm persuasion that it contains the words 
of eternal life ; and with a conscience lying open to the 
authority of Him who speaks in it. You must read it as 
being addressed particularly to yourself; must apply what 
you read for your personal instruction or admonition, 
as truly as if it had been spoken immediately to you by 
a voice from Heaven. You must read it with a spirit of 
dependence on God, as the author of all holy illumination ; 
often sending up the prayer — " Open thou mine eyes, that 
I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Read 
the Bible in this way, my young friends, and while new 
glories will constantly be unfolding to your delighted vi- 
sion, as the stars thicken upon the eye at evening ; the 
principle of spiritual life will be continually growing more 
vigorous, and the evidence of your title to heaven more 
unquestionable. 

In connexion with reading the scriptures, I may 
mention reading other hooks also, of a serious and prac- 
tical nature. There are books which are designed im- 
mediately to illustrate the meaning, and to exhibit the 
harmony, of the scriptures. There are other books whose 
more immediate object is to present a detailed view of 
the doctrines of the Bible ; to show their connexion with 
each other, and their practical bearings both upon God 
and man. And there are other books still, which are 
especially fitted to awaken and cherish a spirit of devo- 
tion ; to withdraw the soul from the influence of external 
objects, and bring it to commune with spiritual and invi- 
sible realities. Books of either of the kinds to which I 
have now referred, you may read with much advantage ; 
though you are always to recollect that, as the produc- 
tions of uninspired men, they are to be tried by the law 
and the testimony. They are the lesser lights in religion, 
which borrow all their lustre from the sun. 



237 

It deserves here to be remarked, that the different pri- 
vate exercises of which I have spoken, are intimately 
connected, and are fitted to exert a mutually favorable 
influence on each other. Meditation, while it composes 
the mind to a devotional frame, and brings before it sub- 
jects for prayer, applies the truths of God's word as means 
of sanctification. Prayer not only leaves the soul in a 
state most favorable to meditation, but spreads over the 
sacred page an illuminating and heavenly influence. 
Reading the scriptures at once furnishes materials for 
meditation, and kindles the spirit, while it supplies the 
language, of prayer. Let these several duties, then, be 
joined together, so far as possible, in your daily practice ; 
and while each will contribute to render the others more 
interesting and profitable, they will together exert a 
powerful influence in your christian improvement. 

2. Another important means of growth in grace, is 
christian intercourse. The utility of social intercourse 
has been felt in every department of knowledge and ac- 
tion. He who desires to make distinguished attainments 
in any thing, can scarcely fail highly to estimate the so- 
ciety of kindred minds engaged in a similar pursuit ; and 
accordingly we find that some of the most brilliant dis- 
coveries in science, have resulted from the intercourse 
which great minds have had with each other. And as it 
is with other things, so it is with religion — hardly any 
thing can serve more effectually to invigorate our religious 
affections, or to heighten the interest with which we re- 
gard the objects of faith, than a close and fraternal inter- 
course with christian friends ; whereas, the neglect of 
such intercourse is at once a cause, and a symptom, of 
spiritual declension. 

That your intercourse with christian friends may be 
profitable, let it be frequent. Every consideration which 
should induce you to cultivate this intercourse at all, 
should induce you to engage in it frequently : and be- 
sides, if religion is made the topic of conversation only at 




238 

distant intervals , the almost certain consequence will be 
that such conversation will never awaken much interest, 
or be prosecuted with much advantage ; whereas, by be- 
ing frequently introduced, it can hardly fail, through the 
influence of habit, on the one hand, and an increased 
degree of religious feeling, on the other, to become a most 
pleasant and edifying exercise . Let a few christian friends 
appropriate an hour of each week to the interchange of 
pious sentiments and feelings, to compare with each other 
their spiritual progress, and to strengthen each other for 
their spiritual conflicts, and let this exercise be continued 
regularly and perseveringly, and you may expect that its 
influence will be felt in a rapid and vigorous growth of 
piety. The place of such a meeting will soon come to 
be regarded as a bethel ; and the hour consecrated to it, 
will be hailed with devout joy and gratitude. But these 
are by no means the only seasons in which you should 
avail yourselves of this privilege. In the common and 
daily walks of life, there are occasions constantly occur- 
ring, on which you may take sweet counsel with your 
fellow-christians. Why may not the friendly call, and 
the social interview, instead of being perverted to purposes 
of idle ceremony, be made subservient to spiritual im- 
provement ? Is it not far more grateful to review an hour 
passed with a friend in conversing on topics connected 
with christian experience, or with the kingdom of Christ, 
than one which you have frittered away in mere trifling 
intercourse, without having uttered a word worthy of 
your christian character or christian hopes ? Moreover, 
this intercourse should be more or less unreserved, accord- 
ing to circumstances. I would not, by any means, recom- 
mend an indiscriminate disclosure of your religious exer- 
cises : this would not only appear to be, but there is 
reason to fear that it would actually be, the operation of 
spiritual pride ; than which, nothing can be more offen- 
sive either to God or man. As a general direction, I 
would say that, while you may profitably hold religious 



239 

intercourse with all christians, that of a more close and 
confidential kind should ordinarily be confined to intimate 
friends — those who will at once value and reciprocate 
your christian confidence. You are, by no means, of 
course, to decline religious conversation with a christian 
friend, because there may be those present, who are not 
interested in it ; but you are so far to regard their pre- 
sence, as to endeavor to give the conversation that direc- 
tion which shall be most likely to minister to their profit, 
as well as your own. And finally, I would say that all 
your religious intercourse ought, so far as possible, to be 
accompanied or followed by prayer. This will serve at 
once to strengthen the tie that binds your hearts together, 
to give additional interest to your intercourse, and to draw 
down upon it the blessing of God. Is it not the melan- 
choly fact that this most delightful duty is often neglected, 
in the circumstances of which I speak, because it is con- 
sidered a matter of delicacy ? God forbid, my young 
friends, that you should ever, for a moment, yield to 
such a sentiment ! Surely that is not only false, but cri- 
minal delicacy, which, by forbidding you to kneel down 
with a companion in the christian life at the throne of 
mercy, would intercept some of the richest blessings of 
God's grace ! 

3. I notice as another of the means of growth in grace, 
the observance of the sabbath, in connexion with public 
ivorship. On this subject, it must be acknowledged that 
there prevails, extensively, a lamentable deficiency in 
christian practice. I refer not here to those who openly 
outrage holy time, by perverting it to worldly business or 
amusement ; they, of course, cut themselves off from 
every claim to christian character ; but I refer rather to 
those, who, professing to sanctify the sabbath, yet adopt 
a low standard of duty, and take little pains to exclude 
the world, either from their thoughts or conversation. 
That you may avoid this evil, and secure the benefit to be 
derived from a proper observance of holy time, attend to 
the following directions. 



240 

Make it an object religiously to observe the whole sab- 
bath. I do not here attempt to decide the question at 
what time the sabbath commences : I only insist that your 
practice on this subject should be consistent with your 
principles. Whenever you believe the sabbath begins, 
then begin to observe it ; and remember that it is just as 
criminal to devote the first half hour to secular purposes, 
as any other part of the day. Let all your worldly con- 
cerns be arranged to meet the earliest demands of holy 
time ; that thus you may avoid the w r retched practice of 
suffering the secular business of the week to crowd upon 
the sacred duties of the sabbath. Be equally careful, on 
the other hand, that you do not curtail this sacred day, 
by suffering your spirituality gradually to decline with 
the sun. I urge this counsel upon you the rather, from 
the fact that the error to which I refer, so extensively 
prevails, that you will be in danger of falling into it al- 
most unconsciously. Remember that He who has fixed 
the stamp of His authority on the sabbath, has left the 
impress of holiness equally on all its hours. Remember 
that if you begin the sabbath too late, or close it too early, 
you are, in either case, guilty of robbing God. 

I would, say in the next place, keep the day strictly 
holy. With the low standards of the world on this sub- 
ject, have nothing to do ; remembering that the command 
of Jehovah is resting upon you, that you should not think 
your own thoughts, or find your own pleasures. Wher- 
ever you are, recollect this command is to be strictly 
obeyed. What though you may be thrown into the 
company of those w T ho profane the sabbath ; or what 
though worldly courtesy should seem to claim that you 
should relax a little from your accustomed strictness, for 
the sake of making yourself agreeable to irreligious friends 
— you have no right to listen to any such demands for a 
moment ; and you cannot venture on the experiment of a 
compliance, but at the hazard of fearfully provoking God, 
and bringing upon yourself crimson guilt. That you may 



241 

comply with the spirit of the divine command, take heed " 
that you avoid every thing inconsistent with a devout 
observance of the day. Never allow yourself in any 
reading which is not strictly religious. Beware that you 
do not, from conversing on subjects which have a remote 
bearing upon religion, slide into conversation of a mere 
secular character : the temptation to this will sometimes 
be almost irresistible. Guard against the indulgence of 
vain and worldly thoughts ; for though the eye of man 
can take no cognizance of these, they fall within the full 
observation of Him who searches the heart. But in order 
to keep holy the sabbath, you have much to perform , as 
well as much to avoid. With the exception of what are 
called " works of necessity and mercy," (and in respect 
to these, an enlightened conscience is to be the judge,) 
the whole day is to be devoted to duties strictly religious. 
Beside attending on the public worship of the sanctuary, 
(in respect to an absence from which, you are never 
lightly to admit an excuse,) you are to devote a con- 
siderable part of the sabbath to the private exercises of 
meditation, prayer, and reading the scriptures and other 
religious books ; and some part of it may be profitably 
spent, as you have opportunity, in serious conversation. 
It is also an employment perfectly consistent with the 
sacredness of the day, to communicate religious instruc- 
tion ; and for this, a noble opportunity is presented by 
sabbath schools. Keeping the sabbath in the manner 
which I have now described, you may reasonably expect 
the blessing of the Lord of the sabbath, in a rapid advance 
in piety. 

I have spoken of your attendance on the public worship 
of God : this is so important a part of the business of the 
sabbath, as to require distinct consideration. Let me say, 
then, that you ought always to prepare yourself for this 
duty by secret prayer ; by imploring the divine blessing 
upon the exercises in which you are to engage, and divine 
aid to enable you to engage in them with a proper spirit. 



242 

On your way to the house of God, let your meditations? 
and if you converse, your words, be such as to prepare 
you the better for the solemnities in which you are to 
mingle ; and when you pass the consecrated threshold, 
realize that you have come hither for no other purposes 
than to worship God, and listen to his truth. It is no 
part of your errand here to engage in worldly civilities ; 
or hear worldly news ; or count the number of strangers, 
and prepare to comment upon their appearance. Your 
business here lies between God and your own souls ; and 
it will never advance, while your attention is absorbed by 
external objects. Guard then against the idle gaze, and 
the wandering imagination ; make the prayers and the 
praises which are here offered, your own ; let every truth 
which is here delivered, be applied for your instruction, 
admonition, or consolation ; and feel best satisfied when, 
on retiring from the sanctuary, your thoughts have been 
least upon your fellow-mortals, and most upon God. 
And let not the good impressions which you may have 
received, be effaced by worldly conversation at the close 
of the service, or on the way to your dwelling, Decline 
all conversation which will be likely to exert such an 
influence, even though it should be solicited ; for it is far 
safer to offend man than God. And avail yourself of the 
first opportunity to enter your closet, to supplicate the 
blessing of God to follow the service in which you have 
been engaged, and to bring home the truths which you 
have heard more impressively to your own soul. " They 
who wait upon the Lord" in this manner, " shall renew 
their strength ;" and shall have just occasion to say, " A 
day in thy courts is better than a thousand." 

In connexion with this article, let me direct your at- 
tention for a moment, a little more particularly, to your 
duty in relation to social religious exercises during the 
week. These are never to be elevated to a level with 
the public services of the sabbath : the latter are pre- 
scribed by divine authority ; the former are left to the 



243 

regulation of human prudence. But so chilling is the 
atmosphere of the world to religious feeling, that the 
christian greatly needs the aid which these weekly ser- 
vices are fitted to impart, to keep alive the spirit of devo- 
tion. They who fear the Lord will desire not only to 
speak often one to another, but to unite their hearts in 
prayer, and to open them to the reception of the truth. 
While, therefore, you regard such exercises as matter 
only of christian prudence, you should consider them 
important helps in the religious life ; and if, at any time, 
you grow weary of attending them, it will be well to 
inquire whether there is not a proportional decline in re- 
spect to other christian duties. No doubt services of this 
kind may be multiplied to an improper extent, so as to 
interfere with duties of paramount claims ; and no doubt 
they maybe rendered unprofitable, and even injurious, by 
being improperly conducted : at the same time, I am con- 
strained to believe that objections to these services have 
arisen more frequently from want of religion, than any 
thing else ; and that the spirit which treats them with 
contempt, would, if it were armed with power, blot out the 
sabbath, and bring every institution of God into the dust. 

4. The last means of growth in grace which I shall 
here notice, is attendance on the Lortfs supper. 

That you may receive the benefit which this ordinance 
is fitted to impart, endeavor to gain a deep impression of 
its nature and design. It is a commemorating ordinance ; 
in which we are to remember " the grace of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, for" our " sakes 
became poor." It is a confessing ordinance ; by which 
we profess ourselves to be the disciples of Christ, and 
openly renounce the world as our portion. It is a com- 
municating ordinance, in which the blessings of God's 
grace are communicated for the renovation of our spiritual 
strength. It is a covenanting ordinance ; in which God 
declares himself our God, and we devote ourselves anew 
to his service. The more you reflect on the nature and 



244 
design of this institution, the more you will discover in it 
of wisdom and grace ; the more you will derive from it 
of light, and strength, and comfort. 

Endeavor, moreover, to be faithful in your immediate 
preparation for this ordinance. This preparation consists 
generally in all the private religious exercises of which I 
have spoken ; but more especially in self-examination. 
" Let a man examine himself," says the apostle ; " and 
so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." The 
public service which has been instituted in our churches 
as preparatory to this ordinance, you are also devoutly 
and punctually to attend ; and let me say that, if you are 
voluntarily and habitually absent from that service, you 
not only wrong your own soul, but carry upon you the 
mark of a backslider. Cases may indeed occur in w^hich 
the Lord's table may be spread before you unexpectedly, 
and in which you have no opportunity for immediate 
preparation ; and then it is no doubt your duty to partake, 
and you may hope for the blessing of God. But where 
preparation is voluntarily neglected, you may expect that 
the ordinance will be to you a mere dead letter ; and it 
will be well, if you do not eat and drink judgment to 
yourself. 

In your attendance on the ordinance, be careful that 
you cherish the feelings, which the occasion is adapted 
and designed to awaken. You should yield yourself to 
devout admiration of that grace, and wisdom, and glory, 
which shine forth in the plan of redemption, and which 
seem concentrated around the Redeemer's cross. You 
are to behold with fervent gratitude the amazing sacrifice 
which constituted the price of all your joys and hopes — 
the price of your immortal crown. You are to look in- 
ward with deep humility upon your own sins, as part of the 
guilty cause of your Redeemer's sufferings. You are to 
look upward with holy joy to a reigning Saviour, and to 
a bright inheritance. You are to renew your resolutions 
of devotedness to Christ, and to determine in the strength 



245 

of his grace, on a course of more unyielding self-denial. 
You are to cherish the spirit of brotherly love towards 
your fellow-christians, and a spirit of good will towards 
the whole family of man ; and you are to let your bene- 
volent affections go out in fervent prayer for the revival 
of God's work. Thus you are to wait upon the Lord at 
his table ; but that you may not, after all, defeat the design 
of your attendance, carry the spirit of the ordinance back 
with you to your closet, and there let it be fanned into a 
still brighter flame. Carry it with you into the world, 
into scenes of care and temptation, and let it certify to 
all with whom you associate that you have been with 
Jesus. 

III. I proceed to the third and last division of the dis- 
course, in which I am briefly to illustrate the importance 
of growth in grace. 

1. Growth in grace is important, as constituting the 
only satisfactory evidence of piety. 

I well know that there is a tendency in the backslider 
and self-deceiver to be perpetually recurring to past ex- 
perience. When they are rebuked, as they cannot fail 
sometimes to be, by the consciousness of being far from 
God and from duty, they call to mind the days in which 
they were cheered, as they suppose, by the manifestations 
of the Saviour's love ; and by connecting experience at 
best equivocal in its character, and long since gone by, 
with a sad perversion of the doctrine of the saints' per- 
severance, they arrive at the welcome conclusion that, 
though fallen from their first love, they have yet the love 
of God in their hearts. Beware, my young friends, of 
this delusion. The christian character is, in its very 
nature, progressive. If then you make no sensible pro- 
gress in piety — much more if you are on the decline, 
and have suffered your affections to become wedded to the 
world, you have no right, from your past experience, to 
take the comfort of believing that this is only the occa- 
V2 



246 

sional lapse of a child of God, from which his grace is 
pledged to bring you back : you have reason rather to 
conclude that you have been resting upon the hypocrite's 
hope, and that you are yet in your sins. But if, on the 
other hand, the principle of religion in your heart is con- 
stantly gaining strength, then you have evidence on which 
you may confidently rely, that you have been born of 
God. The grain of mustard seed, when cast into the 
earth, is so small as almost to elude observation ; but 
when it shoots up into a tree, and gradually lifts its boughs 
towards heaven, no one doubts the reality of its exist- 
ence. In like manner, the principle of religion, when first 
implanted in the heart, is so feeble, that even its existence 
may be a matter of question ; but as it gathers strength, 
and advances towards maturity, the evidence of its reality 
becomes decisive. 

2. Growth in grace is important, as constituting the 
only solid ground of comfort. We have already seen that 
it constitutes the only satisfactory evidence of piety. But 
without evidence of piety, you have no right to indulge 
the hope of heaven : and without that hope, where in the 
universe will you look for comfort ? If you do not grow 
in grace, you must either be sunk in spiritual lethargy, 
or else you must be occasionally at least harrowed with 
fearful apprehensions in respect to the future ; and who 
will say that either situation has any thing in it that de- 
serves the name of enjoyment. If, on the other hand, 
you grow in grace, you have, with the evidence of piety 
which is thus gained, a right to hope that you are an heir 
to the glories of the upper world. Is there any thing in 
this hope that is transporting ? As you value its conso- 
lations, grow in grace. 

Moreover, the growing christian finds comfort not only 
in the hope of heaven, but in the daily exercise of the 
christian graces ; but if you do not grow in grace, you 
have not more to expect from this latter source of comfort 
than from the former. In the exercise of love to God, 



247 

and faith in the Saviour, and many other christian graces 
— yes, even in the successful struggles of the soul with 
sin, there is sometimes a joy which mounts up to ecstacy. 
But to all this the sluggish and backslidden christian (for 
such, at best, must he be who is not growing in grace,) 
is, of course, a stranger. He cannot have the comfort of 
the christian graces, because he has not the exercise of 
them. Grow in grace, then, as you would avoid the 
languor and apathy of spiritual declension, on the one 
hand, and as you would rejoice in the inward experience 
of God's love, on the other. 

3. Growth in grace is important, as constituting the 
only pledge of religious action* I am well aware that 
many actions externally good, and fitted to exert a benign 
influence on the world, are performed by men whose 
hearts have never been touched by a sanctifying influence : 
there are broad and deep streams of public charity, flow- 
ing from fountains into which the salt of divine grace has 
never been cast. Thanks to that Providence which has 
ordained that it should be so ; which causes bad men 
sometimes to do good ; laying under contribution their 
hands, even while they withhold their hearts. But who 
does not perceive that in all cases of this kind, there is 
not — cannot be, a pledge for continued exertion in the 
cause of Christ ? As there is no love to that cause, 
whence shall come that constraining influence, which 
shall nerve the hands for unrelaxed and persevering ef- 
fort ? Who can feel any assurance that the person who 
serves God to-day, by his property or his influence, from 
merely selfish motives, will not to-morrow, upon a change 
of circumstances, become a persecutor of the faith which 
he now labors to promote ? 

Far otherwise is it with the person, who lives in the 
growing exercise of grace. With him, to do good is a 
matter of principle ; and in every variety of circumstances, 
it is the business of his life. Do you fear that he will 



248 

grow weary of well-doing ? Never, so long as he con- 
tinues to grow in grace ; for it is only the outward opera- 
tion of the inward principle. Place him in circumstances 
the most unfavorable to benevolent action ; let him, for 
his master's sake, be shut out from the light of heaven, 
and chained in dreary solitude, where he can have no 
access to a human being — and is his benevolent influence 
no longer exerted ? I tell you, Nay : That man is doing 
good even in his dungeon : he has in his breast a principle 
whose operations no tyrant can check, and no dungeon 
confine : though his communication with the visible world 
is cut off, he has communion with the invisible God ; and 
the influence of his prayers may not only change his dark 
abode into a habitation for the Most High, but may carry 
the blessings of God's grace to many souls. Cultivate, 
then, this holy principle, that yours may be a life not only 
of sincere, but of persevering benevolence ; and that it 
may hereafter be said of you, as of your Master, that you 
went about doing good. 

4. Growth in grace is important, as constituting the 
only adequate preparation for heaven. You hope you 
have been renewed in the temper of your mind : but even 
if you are not deceived in this hope, you cannot be in- 
sensible that there is much of corruption still lodged in 
your heart ; and that a mighty change is yet to take place 
in your character, before you are prepared to inhabit the 
regions of perfect purity. You still sometimes feel the 
risings of a spirit of rebellion : sometimes you are brought 
under the power of evil affections ; and not unfrequently, 
when your soul would rise to heaven in pious contem- 
plation, it is weighed down to the dust by the most op- 
pressive sluggishness. But this spirit of rebellion, and 
these evil affections, and this oppressive sluggishness, you 
can never carry with you to heaven : hence the necessity 
of growing in grace, that you may be prepared for heaven. 
But do you say that eternal life is promised to all who 






249 

have been renewed ; and that, die when they will, God 
will see to it that they are completely sanctified ? Be it 
so — but let it not be forgotten that, in the ordinary course 
of his providence, He accomplishes this object by bringing 
them to work out their own salvation with fear and 
trembling. And besides, though there is a pledge that 
all the regenerate shall be received to heaven, yet the 
measure of their joy in that happy world is to be propor- 
tioned to their present attainments. Wouldst thou then, 
christian, be ready for thine entrance into rest ; wouldst 
thou aspire to a place in heaven near thy Redeemer, 
where the beams of his glory shall illuminate thy soul 
with brightest effulgence, then, grow in grace ; press for- 
ward to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God 
in Christ Jesus. 

Let me, in the conclusion of this discourse, my young 
friends, impress upon you, in one word, the importance 
of aiming at high attainments in religion. Whether you 
are to be a sluggish or an active christian ; whether you 
are to cheer the region around you by the light of a holy 
example, or to be a stumbling block in the path of sinners, 
depends much on the resolutions which you now form, 
and the course which you now adopt. Oh resolve — and 
supplicate God's grace to enable you to execute the re- 
solution — that you will exemplify the character of a con- 
stantly growing christian. Make all your worldly em- 
ployments subordinate, and, so far as possible, subservient 
to your progress in piety. Think yourself more happy 
when you have gained the victory over a besetting sin, 
than if you should see an empire at your feet. Let no- 
thing allure you — let nothing drive you, from the straight 
and narrow path of duty. If the world should come and 
court you with its smiles, turn your back upon it, or meet 
it only as a tempter. If it should cast its chilling frown 
upon you, and call your zeal enthusiasm, and your devo- 
tion hypocrisy, remember that it is enough for the disciple 



250 

that he be as his master. Be it your grand object to be- 
come a perfect person in Christ Jesus. Keep your eye 
steadily fixed on heaven, as the eagle's eye fastens upon 
the sun ; and let your spirit constantly press upward, as 
the eagle's wing lifts itself towards the orb of day. 



LECTURE XVI. 



DOING GOOD. 



GALATIANS VI. 10. 

LET US DO GOOD UNTO ALL MEN. 

In this brief exhortation, the spirit of the gospel 
comes out with unrivalled beauty : it is an index point- 
ing away from earth to heaven, as the region whence 
this treasure of light and love was sent down to men. 
How different is the spirit of the gospel from the spirit of 
the world ! The one is selfish : the other, noble. The 
one breathes good wishes and kind words : the other 
prompts to substantial acts. The one is limited to a 
circle which private interest marks out : the other, in 
its comprehensive range, takes in the world, and calls 
every man a brother. What youth, especially what 
christian youth, would not desire that this spirit might 
have a permanent lodgement in his heart ; — controlling 
his actions, forming his character, elevating his destiny ? 

It is of great importance, my young friends, that, at 
the very commencement of your religious life, you 
should not only be deeply impressed with the fact that 
the great purpose for which you are to live is to do good, 
but also that you should form your plans, and direct 
your efforts, in such a manner as to accomplish the great- 
est amount of good in your power. Many a person 
who has been brought into the kingdom of Christ early 
in life, has sadly disappointed the hopes which have 



252 

been formed in respect to his usefulness, merely from 
having made a wrong estimate of his own powers, or 
from having unwisely selected his sphere of action, or 
from having plunged, as it were, at random, into the du- 
ties of life, conscious of his own good intentions, and 
presuming that they could scarcely fail to be fulfilled. 
With a view to guard you against any such mistakes, 
and to secure to yourselves and the world the full benefit 
of your early conversion, I bring before you to-day, the 
comprehensive subject which my text suggests — that of 
doing good: and I will endeavor to present it under the 
four following divisions : — 

I . The fie Id for doing good : 
II. Means of doing good : 

III. Directions for doing good : And, 

IV. Motives for doing good : 

I. What is the field in which, as christians, you are 
called to labor ? In other words, to whom are you re- 
quired to do good ? 

I answer, in general, the field is the world : you are to 
do good unto all men. 

There are those who limit the sphere of their benefi- 
cence to their own families or kindred- To their own 
children they are even profuse in offices of kindness ; 
and not only do for them all which their necessities re- 
quire, but grant them many indulgences which their best 
interests forbid. In the circle of their immediate friends, 
also, they seem to delight in diffusing happiness, and 
sometimes they may do this, even to their own personal 
inconvenience. But bring before them the wants of a 
stranger — much more of an enemy — and they are deaf 
as adders to every claim you can urge upon their com- 
passion. Their sympathy and their charity are all ex- 
pended at home : they never go abroad in search of ob- 
jects of distress : they even pass unheeded the suffering 
stranger who lies at their door. 



253 

Exactly the opposite of this, is the course which 
Christianity marks out, and which, as the disciples of 
Christ, you are bound to pursue. You are indeed per- 
mitted by the gospel (for it is the dictate of nature) to 
cherish towards your family and kindred a peculiar affec- 
tion ; and it may be proper that they should occupy the 
first place in your beneficent regards ; but you have no 
right, and if you are a christian, you have no disposition, 
to limit your benevolent acts to them. Nor have you 
any right to refuse such acts even to an enemy ; nay, 
the fact that he is an enemy, may impose upon you the 
stronger obligations to do him good : for not only is he 
a brother, as a member of the human family, but if he 
is an enemy to you, and cherishes towards you malevo- 
lent feelings, not improbably he is also an enemy to God, 
and as such, claims your best efforts for his salvation. 
Hear the language of our great Master on this subject : 
" But 1 say unto you, love your enemies ; bless them 
that curse you ; do good to them that hate you ; and 
pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute 
you." 

There are those, again, (and I here refer especially to 
persons in the higher walks of life,) whose sphere of 
benevolent action is limited to those of the same rank 
ivith themselves. To the rich and the great, who stand 
least in need of their favors, their hearts and their hands 
seem always to be open ; and even to real objects of 
charity who are invested with the dignity of rank, they 
may give liberally : but if you go around among the 
poor, and the friendless, and the houseless, who have 
nothing but their misery to recommend them, you will 
find yourself in a region which the charity of which I 
am speaking has never condescended to explore, and 
amidst sufferings with which it could have no com- 
munion. Let there be some great enterprise set on foot, 
which will be blazoned abroad to excite the admiration 
of the world, and these persons will be forward to iden- 
W 



254 

tify themselves with it, by contributing liberally to its 
advancement ; but as for the more humble and every 
day objects of charity, they have neither a heart to feel, 
nor a hand to give. 

Not so with the benevolence of the gospel. That is 
not only active, but unostentatious and humble. It dis- 
dains not to go into the haunts of wretchedness, and to 
search out the children of want and wo, and to minister 
to the relief of the most abject, and even of the most 
depraved. And after having gone into the dark retreats 
of misery, it does not go out into the world, to chaunt its 
own praises, but goes back to the closet, to ask God's 
blessing on the deeds of mercy which it has performed, 
satisfied that only one record of them should be kept, 
and that in heaven. If you would see precisely what I 
mean, brought out into living action, you have it in the 
illustrious Howard, who flew through Europe like an 
angel of mercy, not repelled but attracted by the conta- 
gion and loathsomeness of hospitals and dungeons ; and 
who has left behind him a track of glory, which grows 
brighter the longer he sleeps in his grave. His was the 
genuine benevolence of the gospel ; — doing good for the 
sake of doing good ; — energetic, self-denying, quick in its 
operations as the lightning ; and yet unostentatious, seek- 
ing no man's applause, and caring for no earthly reward. 

There are those again, whose range of benevolent ex- 
ertion does not extend beyond a sect or a party. In this 
narrow sphere, they are willing to labor, and perhaps to 
labor diligently ; they are willing to give, and perhaps to 
give liberally. And, at first view, you might think they 
were full of the benevolence of the gospel. But if you 
look a little farther, you will find that these people are 
Jews, and all who do not belong to their party are Sama- 
ritans. Let an object of charity be proposed to them, 
and the first inquiry is, " is it likely to subserve the inte- 
rests of the sect or party to which I belong ?" and the 
answer to this question decides the course they adopt in 






255 

respect to it. The object may be one in which the in- 
terests of the community at large are deeply involved ; 
but this is a consideration lighter than air with a person 
who is shut up within the narrow limits of a sect. 

True christian benevolence knows no such limits. 
You could no more trammel her by sectarian peculiari- 
ties, than you could arrest the progress of light, or chain 
a giant with a cobweb. Instead of stopping at the line 
which divides one denomination of christians from an- 
other, as if she were arrested by a flaming sword, she 
walks over that line every day, and breathes as freely on 
one side as on the other. What though a man may be a 
heretic in religion, and bearing the christian name, may 
still have renounced the christian faith ; she regards him 
just as he is ; she does not receive him to her bosom as a 
christian, but she pities and prays for him as an errorist, 
and does her utmost to reclaim him from his wanderings. 
All who are fundamentally right, she receives into the 
arms of christian fellowship : to all the rest she delights 
to do good, as God gives opportunity. 

I observe, once more, that there are those whose bene- 
volence is limited to their own country. It may be they 
have bright visions of their country's future glory ; and 
their bosoms kindle at the thought that she is marching 
towards a nobler destiny than awaits any other of the 
nations. And when plans for her aggrandizement are 
brought forward, whether they are connected immedi- 
ately with politics or religion, they stand forward as their 
advocates ; and whether it be personal exertion or pecu- 
niary contribution that is demanded, the demand is met 
with commendable promptness. But suppose there be a 
project of benevolence presented, as wide as the world ; 
a project in which one's own country is recognised only 
as a single member in a great family ; — and it is met with 
chilling apathy ; and it is faced with a thousand objec- 
tions : and its advocates not improbably are called en- 
thusiasts or madmen. Here again, the flame of benevo- 



256 

lence burns brightly within certain limits ; but beyond 
those limits, it goes out in the chillness of the grave. 

Christian benevolence, on the other hand, literally em- 
braces the world. He who has been touched with the 
true spirit of the gospel, remembers that men of other 
countries, as truly as of his own, have souls and bodies 
to be provided for ; — wants to be supplied, and miseries 
to be relieved ; and he does not, he cannot, refuse his 
aid to any project for doing good, because it may be in- 
tended to operate beyond the sphere of his immediate ob- 
servation. He has his eye fixed on the moral regenera- 
tion of the world ; and he does not regard any contri- 
bution, whether of influence or money, as to no pur- 
pose, which has a bearing, however remote, upon this 
grand object. Hence, while he is the active promoter of 
missions at home, he labors also to advance the cause of 
missions abroad ; and the news of the triumphs of the 
gospel from the distant islands of the sea, gladdens his 
heart as truly as if it had come from his own immediate 
neighborhood. 

Thus you see, my young friends, that the field which 
you are called to occupy in doing good, is literally the 
world : that is, you are to include all men in your bene- 
volent regards, and are actually to do good to all men, 
so far as you have opportunity. 

II. Let me now, secondly, call your attention to some 
of the most important means of doing good. On a sub- 
ject of so great extent, I must necessarily confine myself 
to mere hints. 

It may be proper, however, before I proceed to specify 
particular means of doing good, to observe that these 
means are not all equally fitted to every individual ; or 
rather, some of them may be employed with greater 
effect by some individuals than by others ; owing to an 
original difference of character, or to a difference of pro- 
vidential allotments. All of them, however, may, by 



257 

most, or all of you, be employed, in a greater or less de- 
gree : the comparative importance which you are to at- 
tach to each, or the principle by which you are to be go- 
verned in your selection, will come into view in a sub- 
sequent article of this discourse. 

I remark, then, 

1. In the first place, that one important means of do- 
ing good, is private conversation. 

In the circle of your acquaintance, and probably in the 
circle of your intimate friends, there are many young 
persons, who are living in the neglect, perhaps the open 
contempt, of religion. With some of them, it may be, 
you have been associated in a habit of carelessness, and 
possibly may have contributed your influence to render 
them insensible to their immortal interests. Now, these 
especially are the persons, toward whose salvation your 
private efforts are to be directed. You are indeed to 
address yourself to this duty with prudence ; not in a 
manner to excite disgust, but, if possible, to secure a 
favorable and listening regard ; nevertheless, you may, 
you ought, to make a serious and earnest effort to im- 
press them with their guilt and danger, and to bring 
them to escape from the wrath to come. Or it may be 
that some with whom you have intercourse, are actu- 
ally awakened to a sense of religion, and are oppressed 
with the burden of unpardoned sin, and are agitating the 
momentous question — M what they must do to be saved." 
You may do good — good beyond the power of human 
calculation — by pressing upon such persons the obliga- 
tions of repentance, and faith, and holiness ; by admo- 
nishing them of the danger of resisting the influences of 
the Holy Spirit ; by taking them by the hand, as it were, 
and leading them into the kingdom. All this you may 
do in the ordinary intercourse of private friendship, with- 
out either being, or seeming to be, officious or obtrusive ; 
and for aught you can tell, you may, by such instrumen- 
tality, save souls from death, and hide a multitude of 
sins. W 2 



258 

Moreover, you may do good by private conversation, 
not only to those who are strangers to the power of reli- 
gion, but also to christians, and especially to christians at 
your own period of life. You may see among your 
companions, some who are beginning to grow unmindful 
of their christian obligations, and seem to have entered 
on a course of backsliding. You may do immense good, 
by meeting them at the threshold of their decline, with 
an affectionate and faithful admonition : you may not 
only do good to them, but prevent a vast amount of evil 
to the cause of Christ. And to those of your christian 
companions who are watchful and exemplary, you may 
do good, by encouraging them in acts of self-denial, by 
cherishing in their bosoms a spirit of devotion, by pro- 
voking them to love and good works. Especially, you 
may avail yourself of your intercourse with them, to 
devise plans for the moral and spiritual benefit of your 
fellow-men, or to encourage and assist them in carrying 
such plans into effect. In short, all your private inter- 
course with your companions, whether they be christians 
or not, may, if rightly conducted, minister, either directly 
or indirectly, to the promotion of their best interests. 

2. Another efficient means of doing good is furnished 
by the opportunity of instructing in the sabbath school. 
This I know may be considered as belonging to the great 
system of benevolent operations, of which I design to 
speak more particularly under the next article : but it is 
of so much importance, and withal, belongs so appro- 
priately to young christians, that I cannot forbear to give 
it a distinct consideration. 

Though the sabbath school institution is yet compara- 
tively in its infancy, it has been too long in existence to 
require, especially before the youth of this congregation, 
that its claims should be formally set forth. But I speak 
in accordance with my most deliberate convictions, when 
I say that you can scarcely employ a more efficient means 
of doing good than this institution furnishes ; none which 



259 

will tell more loudly or more gloriously on the destinies 
of individuals, on the destiny of our country, or on the 
destiny of the world. When you sit down in the sab- 
bath school room, with a few children around you, you 
may seem to those w r ho look on, and possibly you may 
seem to yourself, to be accomplishing but little : but rely 
on it, the results of what you are doing, as they will be 
seen in the light of eternity, will surprise you : the in- 
fluence which you exert there, may not improbably be 
felt through your city, and even through your country, 
and no mortal can say at what point, either of time or 
place, it will be arrested. If I were called upon to say 
what feature in the present age is most favorable to the 
benevolent activity of christian youth, I should unhesi- 
tatingly refer to the fact that it is an age of sabbath 
schools ; and I am sure that none of you whose heart 
has been touched by the benevolence of the gospel, will 
be willing to lose the opportunity of doing good which is 
hereby afforded. 

Let me say, then, my young friends, let the sabbath 
school come in for a large share of your active regard 
and support. Instead of regarding it a task, regard it a 
privilege, to engage in it. And that your labors may 
turn to the best account, qualify yourselves thoroughly 
for the discharge of your duty ; endeavor to impart, in 
connexion with each exercise, all the instruction you 
can ; aim not only to enlighten the understanding, but to 
impress the heart ; and follow up every good impression 
with pious and affectionate counsels, which may be fitted 
to render it abiding. Consider yourselves as entrusted 
in a measure with the best interests of your pupils ; and 
let all your efforts be directed, if possible, to secure 
their salvation. I rejoice that so many of you are al- 
ready enlisted in this benevolent, this godlike enterprise ; 
enlisted in it, I trust, with a degree of ardor, in some 
measure proportioned to its importance. 



260 - 

3. You have another important means of doing good, 
in the great system of benevolent operations by which the 
present day is distinguished. The institutions which 
have grown up during the present age, for the diffusion of 
christian light, and the consequent melioration of the cha- 
racter and condition of man, bespeak a new and better 
era of the world ; and they put into the hands of every 
one, and especially of every youth, facilities for doing 
good, which the wise and virtuous of other ages have 
desired without having enjoyed. This, unquestionably, 
is the great moral machinery by which the world is to be 
evangelized ; and there is not one of you who may not, 
who ought not, and I think I may say, who will not, in 
some way or other, put forth his hand to keep this ma- 
chinery in operation. 

You may aid this great cause, in the first place, by 
personal exertion. In sustaining and carrying forward 
these various institutions, there is a demand for much 
sober calculation, for much judicious management, for 
much zealous and faithful co-operation ; and that, whe- 
ther you consider each institution as insulated, or as ma- 
king part of a great system of benevolent operation. 
Here is a field in which you may tax your faculties to 
the utmost, and which you cannot occupy with success, 
without more or less of intellectual effort. But beside 
the exertion necessary to guide and control these institu- 
tions, there is also a demand for a spirit of enterprise in 
extending their operation, and in enlisting a greater 
amount of influence in their favor. You may, by suit- 
able measures, bring other youth who have hitherto stood 
aloof, to engage in the same great cause ; and they, in 
their turn, may influence others ; and so any one of you, 
for aught you can tell, may give a new impulse to the 
benevolent operations of a neighborhood, or even of a 
city. 

And you may help forward the same great cause also, 
by your pecuniary contributions. I do not undertake to 






261 



prescribe the amount which any one shall give ; never- 
theless, I will venture to say, Give as the Lord has 
prospered you : give as an enlightened and well regulated 
conscience dictates : give as you believe the object will 
appear to have demanded, when you shall see it in the 
light of the judgment day. If you are rich, you can 
give much : if you have only a competence, you can do 
less : if you are comparatively poor, you can do some- 
thing : and God, both by his word and providence, as- 
sures you that what you give shall not make you the 
poorer. It is a noble resolution which some young per- 
sons have formed, to consecrate a certain part of their 
earnings to God in the promotion of his cause ; and this 
resolution, to their honor, they have been enabled to keep, 
even though they have been prospered beyond all their 
expectations. The world is not to be evangelized with- 
out an immense amount of pecuniary contribution ; and 
as you desire that glorious result, and as you desire to be 
instrumental in bringing it forward, you cannot but es- 
teem it a privilege to contribute of your substance accor- 
ding to your several ability. 

4. Another important means of doing good, which is 
fairly within the reach of all of you, is a holy example. 
There is a power in a consistent, devoted, christian life, 
which belongs to nothing else ; and which greatly in- 
creases the power of each particular effort that }T>u may 
put forth. For instance, you may talk much on the 
subject of religion, and occasionally manifest a deep inte- 
rest in it, and yet it will be to little purpose, if your gene- 
ral deportment be not in correspondence with your con- 
versation ; whereas, on the other hand, a uniformly holy 
example will give to the same conversation, a point and 
energy not easily resisted. So also you may engage 
actively in the promotion of benevolent objects, and may 
bring large gifts to the treasury of the Lord, and if this 
is not of a piece with your daily walk, instead of stimu- 
lating others to nobler deeds of charity, it is not impro- 



262 

bable that the charge of ostentation will be made behind 
your back, if it is not rung in your ears. But beside the 
influence which a holy example exerts in giving effect to 
individual acts of beneficence, there is a more general 
and more direct influence, which may be calculated upon 
with absolute certainty. A devoted life addresses itself, 
silently indeed, but most powerfully, to persons of every 
description. To the careless sinner, and to the slumber- 
ing christian, it brings reproof and admonition. To 
those who are awakened to the importance of religion, it 
proffers a most persuasive invitation to comply with the 
terms of the gospel. And to those who are actively en- 
gaged in doing their Master's business, it holds out en- 
couragement to increased activity and perseverance. In 
short, a true christian example is a living epistle, known 
and read of all men. 

To this point, then, let me entreat you, my young 
friends, to give diligent heed. See that your conversa- 
tion be, in all respects, as becometh the gospel of Christ. 
See that the spirit of piety shed its kindly influence over 
your whole life. In whatever circumstances you are 
placed, exhibit the humility, the consistency, the digni- 
fied firmness, that belongs to the christian character. I 
exhort you to this now, not as a matter of comfort, but 
as a matter of usefulness ; as a means of doing good ; 
and I repeat, that there is in the christian life, a power 
over the hearts and consciences of men, of the extent of 
which you have probably never conceived. And if this 
is true of the christian life in any circumstances, suffer 
me to say that it is especially true of it when it is exhi- 
bited by the young. Let an elevated tone of piety ap- 
pear in a young christian ; let him be at once humble, 
active, and consistent ; and he will diffuse around him a 
light, which, perhaps, beyond almost any other, will lead 
men to glorify our Father who is in heaven. 

5. The last of the means of doing good which I shall 
here specify, is prayer. In a preceding discourse, I have 



«*BV^ 



263 



spoken of its importance as a means of growth in grace : 
I now remark, that it is not less important as a means of 
doing good. The kind of prayer to which I here espe- 
cially refer, is of course, intercession. 

I stop not now to inquire in respect to the nature of the 
connexion between asking and receiving : it is sufficient 
for us to know that there is such a connexion ; — that God 
has commanded us to ask, and has promised, if we ask 
aright, that we shall receive. And he is as ready to 
hear the prayers which we offer in behalf of others, as 
of ourselves. Not that every prayer we offer will be 
answered in the very manner, and at the very time, 
which we may expect or desire ; still it is true, literally 
true, that praying breath is never spent in vain ; and we 
shall ultimately know that all our prayers offered with 
faith in the Saviour, have been answered in the best 
manner possible ; — in the way which infinite wisdom and 
goodness has dictated. 

In some respects, you will instantly perceive that 
prayer possesses an advantage over every other means 
of doing good. It is a means which you may employ 
with its full effect, when you are unable to employ 
any other. Perhaps you have an irreligious friend, who 
has steadily resisted all your efforts for his salvation ; 
who has even treated your affectionate counsels and ex- 
postulations with contempt, insomuch that you have be- 
come satisfied that you have done all for him in that 
way that you can ever do : — must you then absolutely 
give him up, and sit down with the heart-rending reflec- 
tion that he must certainly perish ? No : you may enter 
your closet, and on his behalf, commune with your Fa- 
ther who seeth in secret ; and there perhaps, when all 
other means have failed, you may prevail with God to 
create within him a clean heart. Or you may be laid in 
the providence of God upon a sick bed ; and you may 
think with deep concern of the salvation of sinners 
around you, and yet be unable to reach them with the 



264 

voice of expostulation ; or you may think of the noble 
institutions of christian charity which bless our land, 
and yet be too poor to contribute a farthing to aid 
their operation ; but in either case, you can wield the 
most powerful engine that God has put into the hands of 
mortals ; and it may be that you will actually accom- 
plish more on that bed of sickness, than many around 
you who have health, and property, and a profusion of 
the means of active benevolence. And then again, let it 
not be forgotten, that unless all your other efforts to do 
good are crowned with prayer, you have no assurance 
that they will be of any avail : or if they should, by 
God's grace, be made instrumental of good to others, 
they will bring no blessings into your own bosom. And 
let me say too, that the spirit of prayer is the spirit of 
beneficence ; and it is in the closet, in the worshipping 
assembly, and universally at a throne of grace, that the 
christian's heart is quickened to its highest impulse of 
benevolent action. 

I say then, my young friends, pray without ceasing. 
Pray in season, and out of season. Pray for your 
friends, and your enemies. Pray for those who are near 
at hand, and those who are afar off. Pray for the whole 
family of man. Pray with deep humility, with true 
faith, with earnest perseverance, and you shall know, 
probably in this world, if not, at the judgment, that in 
these importunate wrestlings, you were doing a greater 
amount of good to the souls of your fellow-men, than 
you have the power to calculate ; — perhaps, that you 
were clothing the wilderness with moral verdure, and 
causing the dark places of the earth to echo with the 
sounds of salvation. 

I have now specified some of the most important 
means of doing good ; means which, in a greater or less 
degree, are within the reach of all of you. Let me here 
only add, that your worldly calling, whatever it may be, 
ought to be regarded by you in the same light ; — as an 



265 

important means of benefiting your fellow-men. In 
whatever sphere Providence may call you to labor, you 
are to bear in mind that your efforts are not to terminate 
in mere self-gratification, but are to have respect to the 
higher purposes of doing good to others, and of glorify- 
ing God. 

III. I proceed to the third general division of the dis- 
course, in which I am to suggest some directions for doing 
good. 

1. In the first place, then, if you desire to accomplish 
the greatest amount of good, I would say, Be careful to 
select a field adapted to your peculiar talents. This re- 
mark may apply in general to the choice of your calling 
for life ; or it may apply more particularly to special 
enterprises of benevolence in which you may engage. 
There are a great variety of stations and employments 
allotted to men, in any of which the true christian, if 
otherwise fitted for them, cannot fail to be useful. But 
it is easy to conceive that a christian, with certain natural 
or acquired talents, might be very useful in one station, 
when he would be little more than a cumberer of the 
ground in another. Hence the vast importance of judi- 
ciously selecting your employments ; of always occupy- 
ing those places which you are fitted to occupy with the 
greatest advantage ; of using those means for doing good, 
which are likely, in your hands, to be most efficacious. 
It is true, indeed, that this is a subject on which you may 
not always be able to form the most correct opinion ; for 
there is no kind of knowledge in which we are more apt 
to be deficient, than the knowledge of our own character : 
but if you are prudent, you will not only look well into 
your own hearts, but will take counsel of judicious chris- 
tian friends, who will be able to judge with less partiality, 
and probably with more correctness. Entering a sphere 
of labor for which you are fitted, you may accomplish 
X 



266 

more in a short period, than, in other circumstances, you 
could accomplish during a whole life. 

There is one common mistake connected with this sub- 
ject, to which I beg leave to advert for the sake of putting 
you on your guard against it, if, perchance, it should, with 
any of you, become a practical matter. I refer to the 
fact that young men, not unfrequently, from conscientious 
considerations, leave a profession to which they have been 
trained, and for which they are fitted, for one to which 
they have neither a natural or acquired adaptation. Far 
be it from me to question that there may be cases in which 
a mechanic, or a merchant, or a lawyer, may very pro- 
perly resign the trade or the profession to which he has 
been educated, and even at a comparatively late period, 
enter the gospel ministry ; but I am constrained to offer 
it as my deliberate conviction that, in the great majority 
of instances in which such a change takes place, it is not 
for the better, but for the worse, as it respects the amount 
of good ultimately accomplished. Admitting that the 
calling to which the individual is first devoted, is honest 
and honorable, and one to which he has been regularly 
trained, he had, in all ordinary cases, better remain in it ; 
for if he enter another, especially if he enter the gospel 
ministry, it will probably be with at best a hurried pre- 
paration, and in circumstances which give little promise 
of success. If you have found by experience that you 
can occupy one place to advantage, there is always some 
hazard in relinquishing it for another w T hich you have not 
tried, of a very different character. And you misjudge 
altogether, if you imagine that the christian ministry opens 
the only extensive field of usefulness to a christian : for 
it admits of no question that there are many good men, 
who can be far more useful out of the ministry than in it. 
I do not decide that in a case like that which I have sup- 
posed, you ought not to change ; but I say with confi- 
dence, that you ought not to do it without much delibera- 
tion and prayer. 



-*5%^ 



267 

2. Another direction necessary to be observed, if you 
will accomplish the greatest amount of good in your 
power, is, that, so far as may be, your whole time should 
be occupied in doing good. I should not be surprised, if 
the query should arise in some of your minds, whether 
this is indeed possible ; whether it is not necessary, from 
the very constitution of our nature, that part of our time 
should be devoted to amusement ? I answer, the consti- 
tution of our nature does require an occasional cessation 
from severe labor, and an occasional change of employ- 
ment ; but it does not require that it should be a change 
from what is useful to what is useless, or foolish : on the 
contrary, the whole purpose — the only legitimate purpose 
of amusement, is answered by a change from one useful 
employment to another ; an employment which keeps 
you still doing good, though you are doing good in a 
different way. If you govern your conduct by this prin- 
ciple, you will find yourselves blessed with a far higher 
degree of activity both of mind and body, and will be far 
better fitted for the discharge of your ordinary duties, than 
if you should yield yourselves up to absolute inaction, or 
to what ordinarily passes with the world under the name 
of amusement. In this way, too, many of your precious 
moments which would otherwise be lost, and worse than 
lost, are improved to the benefit of your fellow-men, and 
the glory of God. 

3. If you would do all the good in your power, reduce 
your various duties, so far as possible, to system. Every 
man of the world knows how necessary this is in the 
accomplishment of his purposes : and it is equally neces- 
sary for the man, who, whatever he does, aims to do all 
to the glory of God. You ought to regard this as a 
matter of christian obligation, not only in respect to what- 
ever relates to your daily employment, but to your efforts 
for the promotion of particular objects of benevolence, and 
especially to your pecuniary contributions. Let the plan 
by which you are to regulate your whole conduct, be 



■*>j 



268 

formed in your closet : let it be formed deliberately ; in 
the exercise of a spirit of prayer ; with a deep sense of 
your christian obligations ; and in view of the retribu- 
tions of the judgment : and that plan reduced to prac- 
tice, will, on the whole, bring a much larger amount of 
blessing in its train, than any course of conduct which 
should be left to the control of accidental circumstances 
and occasional impulses. I do not say but that, in the 
latter case, you might sometimes do more, and give more, 
from the momentary impulse of excited feeling, than in 
the former : but in the one case, your influence would be 
like that of a summer shower — rattling, soon over, and 
not penetrating beyond the surface of the earth ; in the 
other, it would be like that of a steady rain — compara- 
tively noiseless, but sinking deep into the earth, and 
causing it to minister to the wants of man. 

Suffer me to say, my young friends, that if you intend 
ever to regulate your efforts in doing good by a regard to 
system, you cannot begin too early. I know not whether 
there be any one habit which is broken up with more 
difficulty, than a habit of action which has no respect to 
order ; and such a habit persisted in for a few years, if 
we may judge from the analogy of experience, must be 
pronounced nearly incurable. As you desire, then, not 
only to do the greatest amount of good, but to do it with 
the greatest ease and pleasure, I exhort you to lose no 
time in forming a habit of systematic action. 

4. It is also important, in order that you may do the 
greatest good in your power, that your efforts should be 
proportioned to different objects , according to their claims 
on your regard. Two objects may be equally important 
in themselves, and yet the one, from peculiar circum- 
stances, may have a much stronger claim on your atten- 
tion than the other : for instance, the members of your 
own family, or the circle of your immediate friends, have 
no doubt a stronger claim on your benevolent exertions, 
than the inhabitants of Japan or Hindostan ; not because 



269 

the souls of your kindred or friends are more precious than 
the souls of these heathen, but because Providence has 
placed the former more immediately within the range of 
your influence. Not that you are to refuse your aid for 
the salvation of those who are afar off ; for you have al- 
ready seen that your field of operation is the world: 
nevertheless, as a general rule, you are to regard those 
who are near you, other things being equal, as having 
stronger claims than the more distant, on the principle to 
which I have just adverted. Of the various objects of 
real benevolence which are presented to you, I do not 
advise you to turn away from any which you have the 
ability to aid ; but I exhort you to let the comparative 
aid which you render to each, be a matter of reflection 
and prayer. An object in itself less important, may, 
sometimes, from peculiar circumstances, demand, for the 
time being, more of your aid, than a more important one ; 
but in general, the relative importance of the object, in 
connexion with the providential relation you sustain to it, 
is to be the criterion by which you are to determine your 
duty. 

5. I observe, once more, that if you would do the 
greatest amount of good in your power, you must watch 
for the most favorable seasons for action. You know 
how important this is to the merchant, and indeed to men 
of every profession : the improvement of a single oppor- 
tunity, the taking advantage of a slight turn of circum- 
stances, may be the hinge on which turns their fortune 
for life. Let not the children of this world, my young 
friends, be wiser in their generation than the children of 
light. Be always on the watch for opportunities of doing 
good ; lest, while your vigilance is suspended for an hour, 
some opportunity should escape you, which, by having 
been faithfully improved, might have secured the salva- 
tion of some immortal soul. Be ready at all times to 
speak a word in season for God : I say, a word in season; 
for while I desire that you may be faithful on this sub- 
X2 



270 

ject, I would never have you disgust by being inappro- 
priate and obtrusive : but " a word fitly spoken," that is, 
spoken in the right time, and in the right manner, the 
wise man has declared, u is like apples of gold in pictures 
of silver." So also you may sometimes do incalculable 
good by a tract, and that too in circumstances in which 
you could do good in no other way : and who does not 
know that, by this means, a reproof has sometimes been 
brought home to the heart of the scoffer, which has melted 
him down into a penitent at the foot of the cross ? In a 
-word, let it be your object, while you are always engaged 
in doing good, to avail yourselves especially of those 
golden seasons which now and then occur, in which you 
may accomplish great good, perhaps in a single moment ; 
opportunities which, if once suffered to pass, can never be 
recalled. 

IV. I have already dwelt at so great length on this 
subject, that I shall detain you but a few moments upon 
the last article, in which I am to consider the motives for 
doing good : though this of itself constitutes a subject so 
broad, that, instead of occupying a small part of a dis- 
course, it might profitably occupy several discourses. 

1 . The first motive which I would present before you 
for doing good, is, that, in this way only, you answer the 
end of your existence. A moment's inspection of your 
intellectual and moral constitution, shows you that you 
are gifted with noble powers ; powers which could have 
been bestowed only by the Almighty and All-wise God. 
The question arises, Whence, then, were they bestowed ? 
Was it that they might be perverted to purposes of re- 
bellion and crime ? Such an inquiry needs no reply. Was 
it then that they might merely answer the purposes of 
self-indulgence ; or that they should remain in a state of 
indolent inaction ? To admit this, were not only absurd, 
but blasphemous. You need go to no higher teachers 
than reason and conscience, to be assured that these noble 



271 

powers were given you for benevolent action ; and that 
when they are used in any other way, or for any other 
purpose, they are perverted. Man was made for a far 
higher purpose than the beasts that perish ; but if his 
faculties are employed in any other way than in doing 
good, he loses the place in creation which his Maker as- 
signed him, and becomes worse than a blank in the works 
of God. I know that this is a motive which addresses 
itself to youth of every character — to those who utterly 
neglect religion, as well as to those who have entered on 
a religious life : but I am sure it applies in all its force to 
you who are professedly the disciples of Christ ; for to say 
nothing of the fact that you may be deceived, it is certain 
that you bear about with you a body of sin, and hence 
are in danger of doing far less good than is actually within 
your power ; and just in proportion as you come short of 
this, you defeat the design for which your faculties, your 
very existence, was given you. As you desire then to 
answer, in the highest degree, the end for which God 
made you, and made you what you are in the scale of 
being, be always employed in doing good. 

2. Another motive by which I would urge you to a 
life of active benevolence, is, that your destiny thereby 
becomes allied to that of the highest orders of creation. 
No doubt there are various ranks of being above us, as 
we know that there are various orders below us ; and 
with the exception of the rebel angels who are confined 
in chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great 
day, all these superior orders of intelligence are engaged 
in a course of unceasing, active benevolence. They 
breathe the pure atmosphere of Heaven : they walk in the 
light of the Lamb : they execute the purposes of infinite 
wisdom and infinite love : they strike their golden harps 
to the praises of Jehovah. By a life of active benevo- 
lence, you become incorporated into the same family with 
them, and prepared for their communion and their joys. 
Nay, more, your destiny, in some respects, will be ele- 



272 

vated above theirs ; for the song of redemption you will 
raise to a higher and nobler note than they ever can. Is 
not here, then, a powerful motive to benevolent action ; 
a consideration which should induce you not to be weary 
in well-doing ? 

3. By a life of active benevolence, you are changed 
into the image of God, from glory to glory. It is the most 
perfect epitome that was ever formed of the character of 
God, that he is Love : it is his delightful and unceasing 
employment to do good. Every thing in creation, every 
thing in providence, every thing in redemption, proves it. 
Would you, then, bear the lineaments of his character ; 
and do you desire that you may wear his image with in- 
creasing brightness ? Then, let me say, imitate his divine 
beneficence. Let it be the constant employment of your 
life to do good. This brings you up towards the standard 
of infinite perfection ; and while it makes you like God, 
it makes you a constant object of his complacence and 
blessing. 

4. Be encouraged to a life of benevolent action, by the 
consideration that you hereby act in character not only as 
a creature of God, and a probationer for eternity, but 
especially as a professor of religion. In acknowledging 
yourself a disciple of Jesus Christ, you not only recog- 
nize your obligations to do good, but avow your deter- 
mination to do good ; and it is only in proportion as your 
life is given to active benevolence, that you redeem the 
pledge which a christian profession involves. When you 
make it manifest that your grand aim is to diffuse bless- 
ings around you, to relieve the temporal and spiritual 
wants of your fellow creatures, and thus to leave the 
world the better for your having lived in it, your cha- 
racter is clothed with a majesty which does not belong to 
that of the hero or the statesman — the majesty of a con- 
sistent christian. But on the other hand, if you content 
yourself with a mere negative character, satisfied to do 
no harm, though you do little positive good, every man 



273 

who knows what you profess, will note your inconsis- 
tency, and will, at least in his heart, say, " You profess 
more, but what do you more than others ?" 

5. Finally : Let me urge you to a steady course of 
benevolent action, by the consideration that in no other 
way, can you accomplish the design of your early conver- 
sion. When God calls sinners into his kingdom at any 
period of life, he calls them to be active in his service : 
when he calls them in the morning of life, it is that they 
may labor for him early ; and if he is pleased to continue 
them to an advanced period, that they may also labor 
long. Suppose, in his providence, he should spare you 
to advanced age — what an amount of good may you not 
accomplish ; what a mighty influence may you not exert 
on the destinies of your fellow men ; what large treasures 
of bliss and glory may you not lay up for yourselves in a 
better world ! And what if you should die early ? Still 
you do not wish to die without having done something to 
benefit your generation, and glorify God : and God, by 
calling you early into his kingdom, has declared that he is 
willing— nay, that he is desirous, that you should thus be 
honored. In the accomplishment of this benevolent de- 
sign concerning you, see that you faithfully and diligently 
co-operate : do good to all men as you have opportunity ; 
and God your Father and Redeemer will smile upon you 
from his throne, and ere long will take you up to dwell 
amid the glories of his own eternal beneficence. 



m, 



LECTURE XVII. 

THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S COURSE. 



II. TIMOTHY IV. 7. 

I HAVE FINISHED MY COURSE. 

You will instantly perceive that I have chosen this 
passage somewhat in the way of accommodation. As it 
stands in the apostle's discourse, it is the language, not of 
a young christian, but of an aged christian, who is just 
closing his career of conflict and trial, and has heaven full 
in view. " I have finished my course — the labors and 
sufferings of a long life are now soon to be ended : already 
I have reached the hither part of the dark valley : the 
crown of righteousness, and the robe of glory, begin to 
glitter in my eye ; and strains of heavenly music fall 
sweetly on my ear." Oh what a moment was that to 
Paul ! Who would not covet death, if he could greet it 
with such joyful confidence, as a messenger to call him 
up to glory ? 

But in the present discourse, I purpose to consider the 
text as an expression of triumphant faith in a young 
christian, in the immediate prospect of his departure. In 
the series of discourses which I am now bringing to a 
close, I have contemplated a youth, first, as exposed, 
perhaps yielding, to the temptations of the world, and 
neglecting his immortal interests ; then, as inquiring with 



276 

deep anxiety, " what he shall do to be saved ;" then, as 
actually complying with the conditions of the gospel, and 
becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus ; and subse- 
quently, as walking in the commandments and ordinances 
of the Lord, and thus growing in knowledge, piety, and 
usefulness. I now make the supposition — and it surely 
involves nothing improbable — that this same youth, in 
the midst of his christian activity, is arrested by the hand 
of death ; and that, in the last hour of his life, as he con- 
templates the past, and looks forward to the future, he 
exclaims, " I have finished my course." I invite you, 
my young friends, to contemplate this youth — suppose, if 
you will, that it is one of your own companions — in these 
most solemn and interesting circumstances ; and then 
answer to your own conscience, whether the joy of such 
a death does not compensate a thousand fold for all the 
sacrifices which, yourselves being judges, religion ever 
required of him. 

Without adverting particularly to the obvious fact that 
the text contains an allusion to the Grecian games, I shall 
proceed directly to call your attention to the course here 
spoken of, in application to a young christian : to its 
character, its close, its consequences. 

I. Its Character. 

And, I remark, in the first place, that it is a brief 
course. Brief indeed is the course of that christian who 
even fills up his threescore years and ten ; for the life of 
man, at its best state, is as a dream of the night when one 
awaketh. But in the case which I am supposing, it is a 
brief period compared with that which falls to the lot of 
many others. This is true of the whole period of youth- 
ful life ; and it is especially true of that part of it, w r hich 
is devoted to the service of Christ. The youth perhaps 
has lived twelve, fifteen, twenty years, before he has ever 
thought seriously of his soul's salvation : supposing him, 
at either of these periods, to have entered on the religious 



'~v* 



277 



life, and yet to find an early grave, how short the season 
allotted to his christian course ! Whatever he may have 
done, or whatever he may have suffered, in the cause of 
his Redeemer, has all been brought within very narrow 
limits. 

Again : It is a beneficent course. However some may 
imagine that a life of religion necessarily implies seclusion 
from the world, and others, that it imposes no peculiar 
obligations, the christian of whom I am speaking, having 
been faithful, has acted upon a far different principle. 
From the time that he became a new creature in Christ 
Jesus, he has steadily recognized his obligation to live not 
for himself, but for Him who died for his salvation. His 
grand object has been to do good ; — to do good in the 
various relations of life ; — to do good to all men, so far as 
he has had opportunity and ability. He has found no 
time to waste in the follies to which many of his com- 
panions have yielded ; but has endeavored, to the extent 
of his power, to give all his hours to some employment, 
which would contribute to render the world better for his 
having lived in it. 

Again : It is a self -denied course. At its very com- 
mencement, he took a deliberate survey of the field he 
was about to enter, and saw that he could do nothing 
without constant conflict ; but he resolved to be a chris- 
tian notwithstanding ; and from that hour, he became 
crucified to the world, and the world was crucified to him. 
Not improbably he had much to encounter in leaving gay 
associates, and taking his stand on the side of religion ; 
but he dared to be singular then, and the resolutions 
which he then formed to resist temptation, he has steadily 
adhered to since. He has found himself in only a par- 
tially sanctified state, with corrupt affections and inclina- 
tions often prompting him to sin ; and sometimes he has 
been ready to exclaim, under the power of indwelling 
corruption, " O wretched man that I am, who shall de- 
liver me from the body of this death ?" Nevertheless, 
Y 



278 

Be has resolutely prosecuted the warfare with himself, 
and has seen his spiritual enemies gradually put under his 
feet. It has been his constant prayer, his earnest en- 
deavor, that he might gain an entire victory over all his 
evil passions and appetites, and that every principle of his 
nature might be brought into captivity to the obedience 
of Christ. 

■ Again : It is a dependent course : and by this, I mean 
that he has not gone about the performance of his duties 
in his own strength. He has recollected that all his 
springs were in God ; that while he was commanded to 
be active, he was dependent for the very power of action 
on the influence of the Holy Spirit. Instead of perverting 
this truth to minister to indolence on the one hand, or 
presumption on the other, he uses it as furnishing at once 
an argument for activity and humility ; and while he 
doeth what his hand findeth to do with his might, he 
habitually connects with his efforts to do good, a sense of 
dependence on Almighty grace. Hence that may be said 
of him in reference to his general character, which was 
said of Paul in reference to his conversion—' 4 Behold he 
prayeth !" 

Further : It is an increasingly easy course. When he 
first contemplated the obstacles which would oppose his 
progress, they seemed to him perhaps well nigh insur- 
mountable ; and it may be that he hesitated long before 
he took up the resolution to encounter them. One of the 
greatest difficulties he apprehended was that of separating 
himself from worldly companions and vanities, and taking 
the attitude of a determined friend of religion, in the face 
of the world : but he has found the difficulty in this re- 
spect constantly diminishing with each successive effort ; 
and that, not only inasmuch as his efforts have contributed 
to increase his power of action, on the principle that every 
faculty is improved by proper exercise, but also because 
his determined perseverance has discouraged, in a great 
degree, the attempts to draw him away from his duty. 



279 

And as it is in this respect, so it is in every other. He 
has indeed, as he has advanced, learned more of the cor- 
ruption of his heart, and of his need of a constant divine 
influence ; nevertheless, every temptation over which he 
has gained the victory, has rendered each successive one 
less formidable : every evil affection which he has been 
enabled to crucify, has given him an advantage in respect 
to every other which has risen in his heart : every mea- 
sure of grace which he has received, has been a measure 
of strength to enable him the better to discharge his duty. 
In this way, amidst all the disclosures of his own corrup- 
tions, amidst the constantly accumulating weight of duty, 
his course has continually become more easy ; and ob- 
stacles which once seemed not only real, but even appal- 
ling, have, at length, entirely disappeared. 

Moreover, it is on the whole a pleasant course. Yes, it 
is pleasant, with all the conflicts and trials with which it is 
connected ; for with these very conflicts and trials, grace 
intermingles ; so that the cup which seems to have in it 
nothing but bitterness, has really little else than consolation. 
If I were to speak of the elements of the joy which is here 
experienced, I should tell you of that peace which passeth 
understanding ; of that hope which is an anchor to the 
soul ; of that living faith which rests in and appropriates 
the promises of God ; which unites the soul to its Sa- 
viour, and impresses upon it his image ; which takes from 
adversity its terrors, and plucks from death his sting. 
Leaving out of view then altogether the exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory, I say there is enough to justify 
the remark that the young christian's course is pleasant ; 
and especially w T hen compared with the only other course 
which it was in his power to pursue. 

And finally, it is a successful course. His companions 
in age have had various objects in view, and have pur- 
sued them with great labor and perseverance. Some 
have been toiling for one worldly object, and some for 
another ; and either the object of their pursuit has not 



280 

been attained, or being attained, has been found unsatis- 
factory. And not improbably some among them have 
already rendered their dying testimony to the folly and 
vanity of their pursuits. He, on the other hand, has 
succeeded in his efforts — I may say, has succeeded fully ; 
for he has been honored as the instrument of diffusing 
blessings around him, and he is an heir to " a crown of 
righteousness that fadeth not away." But in these re- 
marks I anticipate a succeeding division of the discourse. 

Let me then, from the character of the young christian's 
course, pass, 

II. To its close. The text contemplates it as finished. 

It is finished in a peaceful manner. It may be that the 
young christian has often contemplated death as an object 
of dismay ; and though he may have been able to think 
of every other trial with composure, yet as often as he 
has thought of going down into the dark valley, he has 
been oppressed with fearful apprehension. But the ter- 
rors of death gradually diminish as his end draws near. 
His faith becomes more active, his hope more firm, his 
views of heaven stronger and brighter ; the promises of 
the gospel come home to his soul in all their reality, and 
richness, and power ; and he feels ready to breathe out 
his life in an act of thanksgiving to redeeming grace. He 
sees around him friends, it may be parents, brothers, 
sisters, to whom he is united by the most endearing ties ; 
but he can cheerfully give them up, for the community of 
friends to which he is going ; and he gives them up too, 
it may be, in the strong confidence that they will ere long 
be his companions in glory. The world, its objects and 
interests, gradually fade upon his vision, till he falls 
calmly and sweetly to rest, and the place that has known 
him hitherto, knows him no more. 

But the close of the young christian's course is often 
more than peaceful — it is joyful and triumphant. The 
soul, as it approaches the hour of final conflict, sometimes 






281 

gathers surprising strength ; and is enabled to raise the 
shout of victory, while it is not yet dislodged from its 
earthly tabernacle. Such are the visions of glory that 
entrance the departing spirit, that the agony of dying 
appears lighter than nothing ; — it is even forgotten, till 
the soul is reminded that it is past, by finding itself among 
those whose robes are washed and made white in the 
blood of the Lamb. Often have I seen the young chris- 
tian, and sometimes even the naturally timid female, 
breathing out her spirit on the bed of death with unutter- 
able transport ; committing herself into her Redeemer's 
hands, not merely without a chill of distrust, but with 
the joyful, thankful exclamation — " I know in whom I 
have believed :" and when I have seen and heard this, I 
have wished that I might bring in every thoughtless youth 
around me, as a spectator of the scenes of that dying bed ; 
not doubting that each one in view of it must say, " Let 
me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
like his !" 

Nevertheless, the close of the young christian's course, 
peaceful and even triumphant as it may be, is humble. 
For he realizes strongly — probably more strongly than at 
any preceding period of his life — that in his best attempts 
to serve his Master, he has been but an unprofitable 
servant. When he thinks of the waywardness, the 
listlessness, the inconstancy, by which even his religious 
life has been marked, and then of that grace which has 
all along been manifested to keep him from final apostacy, 
and then of the peace and joy which he is permitted to 
experience in his last moments, and finally glances the 
eye of faith onward to the glories which await him in 
heaven ; in a word, when he reflects that all that enters 
into the work of his salvation is grace — rich grace, and 
that instead of leaving the world in triumph , he deserves 
to leave it in despair, and to go down to the world of 
despair ; — when he thinks of all this, I say, he desires, 
amid all the glory of dying in the Lord, to lie at the foot 
Y2 






282 

of the cross, and with his last breath, to give to God all 
the praise of his salvation. " Not unto me, who am less 
than the least of all saints," is the language of his soul, 
u but to thy great name, Merciful Redeemer, to the effi- 
cacy of thy blood — to the power of thy grace — to the 
merit of thy intercession, be all the honor of my redemp- 
tion from the eternal pit, and of my exaltation to that 
throne of light which awaits me in heaven !" 

And finally, under this article, the young christian 
finishes his course in a manner that is honorable to reli- 
gion. It may be that some of the thoughtless youth 
around him have called his piety by the hard name of hy- 
pocrisy or fanaticism ; but if they are present to witness 
his closing scene, they have evidence that they were in a 
most wretched mistake. Here they see that the religion 
which he had exhibited in life, is an all-sustaining prin- 
ciple ; that the Saviour whom he had served by a course 
of self-denying obedience, fulfils his promise to be his 
stay and his staff in the dark valley. And such a scene, 
if any thing, is fitted to impress them with the realities 
of eternity, and to awaken them to an inquiry concern- 
ing their own salvation. It is fitted too, to strengthen 
the faith, and quicken the obedience of christians, and 
especially of their young christian friends, who may 
be present to witness their departure, and who are to 
remain yet longer in the field of conflict, before they 
are dismissed for their reward. More than once has the 
triumphant death of a young christian carried conviction 
to the heart even of the scoffer and of the profligate : 
often has it brought the anxious yet lingering inquirer to 
a decision on the great question that has involved his 
immortal interests ; and where is the christian who has 
witnessed such a scene, who will not testify that it has 
diminished his attachment to the world, and strengthened 
his confidence in his Redeemer, and rendered the gospel 
more precious to him, as containing a death-bed religion ? 
In whatever other circumstances the infidel may scoff at 






283 

the religion of Jesus, he cannot — I had almost said, even 
if he had the malignity of a fallen spirit — he cannot re- 
vile this religion, as it is acted out in the peace and joy 
with which the young christian often yields up his soul 
into the hands of his Redeemer. 

III. Let me now, in the third place, call your atten- 
tion, for a few moments, to the consequences of the 
young christian's course. These we will consider in 
relation to himself > and in relation to the world. 

His course is followed by most important blessings to 
himself. It is a blessing, a rich blessing, to be able to 
leave behind us a good name ; to live after we are dead, 
in the grateful and affectionate remembrance of those 
who survive us. The voice of popular applause which 
sometimes rings in shouts at the virtues, and even at the 
vices of men, and which, by a slight change of circum- 
stances, can be changed into the voice of execration, is 
indeed an unimportant matter, and is rather to be depre- 
cated than desired. But to desire that our memories may 
be embalmed in the hearts of the wise and good, that 
we may be spoken of with gratitude and kindness, as 
having lived for the benefit of our fellow-men — this is a 
genuine dictate of nature ; and perhaps there is no de- 
gree of depravity that can dislodge this original desire 
from the breast. I say then, it is a delightful conse- 
quence of the course which the young christian has pur- 
sued, that it secures to him a good name after he is dead : 
it secures to him a place in the affections of all, in whose 
affections a good man would desire to live. When his 
neighbors and acquaintances come to unite in a prayer 
around his unburied remains, and then go and see them 
deposited in the grave, that funeral service will not be, 
as in many other cases, a dull formality ; but you will 
see that many hearts are in it, and that there are many 
out of the circle of near friends, who feel that they have 
sustained a loss. And long after the grave has closed 



284 

upon his remains, those who knew him— especially those 
who have been benefited by his counsels, or example, 
or prayers, will delight to dwell on his memory, and will 
speak of that as a dark dispensation by which so much 
christian promise, so many budding hopes, were prema- 
turely blasted. Yes, though his course has been brief, 
it has been so bright, and holy, and useful, that it cannot 
soon be forgotten : the record of what he was will re- 
main fair in many hearts, when the moss shall have 
grown over his tomb-stone, and the worm shall have 
revelled upon his body. 

But far richer blessings than these are to crown the 
young christian's course — blessings which are to fall upon 
the path of his whole future existence. For the mo- 
ment that death has done its work — yes, at that moment 
when the bosom of surviving friendship heaves its hea- 
viest sigh — his spirit is before the throne of God ; an 
innumerable multitude of glorified beings welcome his ar- 
rival ; the songs of redemption tremble on his ear ; the 
glories of the upper world blaze upon his eye. From 
all doubt, and sin, and sorrow, he finds himself for ever 
set free : he has become an inhabitant of a world of 
light, in which he can contemplate even the unveiled 
glory of God ; — of a world of purity, in which there is 
not a vestige of any thing that defileth ; — of a world of 
joy, in which all tears are wiped away. His character 
is that of a glorified immortal ; his residence is the third 
heavens ; his employment, unceasing praise to God and 
the Lamb ; his society, the general assembly and church 
of the first-born, an innumerable company of angels, 
Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and God, the 
Judge and Father of all. 

And where, during this period of the soul's perfection, 
is his body ? Slumbering in the grave ; it may be, dis- 
solved into its original elements, and scattered to the 
winds. But shall it always be thus ? No : the voice 
of the archangel shall wake that slumbering dust, and 



285 

collect, and reorganize it, by an Almighty energy ; and 
instead of being a corruptible body, it shall be an incor- 
ruptible one; and it shall be united to that glorified 
spirit ; and the whole man shall be brought into judg- 
ment ; and shall recognize in the Judge a Redeemer and 
Friend ; and shall hear the sentence of acquittal and re- 
ward ; and then shall advance onward into the ages of 
eternity, clothed with the splendors of immortal beauty. 
Say then, are not the consequences of the young chris- 
tian's course glorious to himself ? If it were a perpe- 
tual scene of wretchedness, unmitigated by the least 
consolation, and were always to terminate amid the 
fires, and agonies, and horrors, of martyrdom, tell me, 
whether it were not wise to incur this, and a thou- 
sand fold more than this, for the sake of obtaining such 
a reward ? 

But the course of the young christian is ordinarily fol- 
lowed by rich blessings to others. For though he has 
lived but a little while, he has not lived in vain. He 
has lived long enough, and been a christian long enough, 
to sow some seed that shall bear fruit unto eternal life. 
Perhaps his holy example, and faithful efforts, in the 
family, have been blessed to the salvation of some of its 
members. Or perhaps his labors in the sabbath school 
have been crowned, in an unusual degree, with the di- 
vine blessing ; and have been the means of bringing 
many children to love their Creator and Redeemer. Or 
perhaps he has been the instrument of reclaiming some 
of his former thoughtless associates from haunts of ir- 
religion, and habits of levity, and bringing them to at- 
tend seriously to the concerns of their souls. Or he 
may have been the parent of some benevolent institution, 
which will live and continue its operations long after he 
is dead, and perhaps into the ages of the millenium. In 
either or all of these ways, he may have labored in the 
cause of Christ ; and when it is recollected that influence 
is, from its very nature, progressive and accumulative, 



286 

how much, think you, may he be found to have done, in 
the end of the world, for the benefit of his fellow-crea- 
tures ? On how many myriads of souls may the labors 
of a few short years, it may be of a single year, tell, in 
the whole progress of his being ? I ask, are not the 
consequences of this brief course, to the world, as well 
as to himself, literally incalculable ? 

Who will not say, on a review of this subject, that 
it furnishes a powerful argument to every young christian, 
for persevering diligence in the service of his Master ? 
You have entered on a course which, for aught you 
know, may very speedily be closed. If you could read 
what is written concerning you in the book of God's 
secret counsels, you might possibly know that you have 
almost reached the limit of your probation ; that you are 
on the eve of going to render up your account. I know 
that you desire to finish your course with joy. I know 
that you desire that it may truly be said of you, after you 
are dead, that your life has been a blessing to the world. I 
know that you desire to crowd into this little period as 
much of service as you can, to that Saviour who has died 
to purchase the reward to which you are looking forward. 
Well then, if your days are so rapidly passing, what re- 
mains but that you should, during the residue of life, 
consecrate all your powers to the honor of your Master. 
Dream not, my young friends, that the course of a mere 
nominal christian can terminate in joy and glory. Dream 
not that the forms of religion can be safely substituted for 
its life and power. Remember that nothing but practical 
godliness will stand, when flesh and heart fail. See to 
it, that your course be the course of the humble, self- 
denied, devoted christian ; then will its termination be 
happy ; and its consequences, to you and the world, in 
time and in eternity, unutterably glorious. 

But if this subject supplies a powerful argument to 
the young christian, for a devoted religious life, it fur- 
nishes an argument equally powerful to every irreligious 



287 

youth, to become immediately reconciled to God. Tell 
me, my young friends, whether the course which has 
now been presented before you, does not, in every re- 
spect, approve itself to your judgment, more than that 
which you hitherto have been, and still are, pursuing. 
What though there may be self-denial, and conflict, and 
bitter repentance, in a life of religion, yet are you not 
satisfied that it has, on the whole, greatly the advantage, 
even on the score of happiness, of a life of sinful in- 
dulgence ; and is it not, in the view of all whose good 
opinion is worth possessing — nay, is it not, in the sober 
judgment of your own conscience, far more honorable ? 
But suppose, as it respects both happiness and honor in 
this world, they were alike ; which course, think you, 
is the most desirable in its close ? Would you rather 
have in the hour of death the remorse, the wretchedness, 
the fearful anticipations, which impenitence begets, or 
the peace that passeth understanding, the hope full of 
immortality, the joy unspeakable and full of glory, which 
are inspired by the review of a life that has been devoted 
to the service of Christ ? And after you are dead, 
would you rather have it said of you, that you had lived 
for the benefit of your fellow-men, or that you had lived 
for the gratification of self ? And in eternity, would you 
choose to be associated with seraphs or with fiends ; to 
be employed in wailing or in praise ; to have a part in 
the resurrection of life or in the resurrection of damna- 
tion ? I am sure not one of you can hesitate in what 
manner to answer these questions : not one of you but 
must feel that the lot of the righteous is infinitely to be 
preferred before that of the wicked : — I venture even to 
add, not one of you but intends ere long to make the lot 
of the righteous his own. I warn you then, once more, 
that there is no time to be lost. Not an hour passes, but 
your immortal interests are in jeopardy. Yield your- 
selves then to the service of God without delay ; and 
though you should die early, you will die safely and 



288 

peacefully ; — will die to live and reign with Christ on his 
throne for ever and ever. 

I here close the series of discourses, my young friends, 
which have, for a considerable time, occupied you, and 
which have been designed for your special benefit. I 
may be permitted to say that I have been gratified, in 
no small degree, by the respectful attention you have 
rendered them ; and nothing now remains, on my part, 
but that I should commend them to your serious recol- 
lection, and to the blessing of Almighty God. It shall 
be my earnest prayer — and I invite you to join me in it — 
that this effort made for your salvation may be crowned 
by the influence of the Holy Spirit ; and that in the day 
when we shall meet to testify how I have preached, and 
how you have heard, it may appear to our mutual and 
everlasting joy, that this course of instruction which is 
now closed, has been to some of you — to many of you — 
to all of you, a savor of life unto life. 



Library of Congress 



